Command and Ranma: GDI
by Shadow Moon of the Imperium
Summary: What would happen if Ranma and company are thrust into the Command and Conquer 3 game and they need to help GDI? A Ranma and CnC3 crossover. This story does contain spoilers, as I use actual missions and viable winning strats.
1. Act 1 Prologue

Command and Ranma: GDI

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Command and Conquer. Don't sue. Don't flame. There is another version for NOD planned, so don't flame that I'm picking sides for Ranma and friends. Thank you.

Edited for spelling and breaks added.

-/0\--/0\-

Prologue

It was another day at Furinken High. The teacher was running through roll call. All throughout the school, people noticed that Akane Tendo, Nabiki Tendo, and Ranma Saotome were missing.

Back at the Tendo Dojo, it was also quiet, as Happosai was lonely and out of place without someone stopping his perverted ways.

Customers of the Cat Café also noticed that neither Cologne, Shampoo, nor Mousse were inside. The same was true for Ukyo's okonomiyaki shop. So where did they go?

-/0\-

Ranma wakes up refreshed and stretches his arms up, but realizes something is wrong. He looks on either side of him, and notices he's wedged between Akane and Shampoo. Being careful not to disturb either of them, for doing so would mean being whacked by Akane, he gets up and has a look around. He looks outside and notices that they are in a gas station that looks to be on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Then a bright light is seen to his left. Ranma looks just in time to see 8 lances of light coming down and swirling in on each other. They disappear leaving an ionized cloud, and then a bright beam of light shoots down igniting the ionized air.

He then looks back because the light is too bright, only to be cornered by 6 soldiers in prairie green battle armor leveling their rifles on him.

"You need to come with us."

"Yeah, and who's gonna make me?"

Just then, the soldiers shot, only to have the bullets miss the target that was there a second ago. Ranma dodged the bullets and appeared behind the soldiers in an instant. By this time, Ryoga, Akane, and Shampoo are awake and outside looking on as Ranma engaged his Chestnuts technique on the 6 armored soldiers.

5 more squads of infantry then show up and surround the gas station.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!!!" Ryoga launches his breaking point attack, and manages to shatter 3 sets of armor before the soldiers hit him on the back of the head with their rifles. They move in, and apprehend the rest of the group and take them to the command center where they are placed in holding cells.

Ranma then decides to question the guard on what's going on. "So, where and when are we exactly?"

"Your not from around here, are you? This is a GDI forward base. It was assembled to take out the Nod base in the region."

"Well that partly explains the beams of light I saw on the other side of the mountain."

"Oh, you observed our space-based Ion Cannon eh? Well, we are in the middle of a tiberium crisis."

"What's tiberium exactly?"

"Dang, you definitely are not from around here."

At this point, a couple MP's show up relieving the guards. "You're to come with us, preferably without conflict."

The group then goes up to the primary command deck, where, in the middle of the floor, is a chair with a special battlefield control console in the armrest. The chair turns around, revealing one of GDI's most decorated commanders. "I'm Lieutenant Haverson. From what it seems, your not from this universe, are you? Who are you and where did you come from?"

"I'm Ranma Saotome" Ranma said. Everyone else introduced themselves "As for where we came from, that would be Japan back in 1995. Although we don't know anything about this tiberium whatever it is, so yeah, we could be from a different universe. What we're doing here, I couldn't tell you. Nor can we tell you how we got here, as it must have happened overnight."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem. I can have EVA bring you up to speed in the briefing room. But in the meantime, you must be hungry. Come on, I'll show you to the mess hall."

With that, Haverson got up from the chair, but not before handing control over to his sub-commander. The group then left down a ramp, and out into the sunlight. Akane happens to look to her right as they are passing what looks to be a construction yard and what appears to be a refinery, when she notices a green glow coming from outside the base. She wanders over to examine it closer, when a guard steers her back into the group.

"You don't want to go near the Tiberium. It's very dangerous," the guard said.

The group then walks into the barracks, and heads downstairs into the biggest cafeteria they ever saw. The group is awestruck at how much food is available.

"Well, dig in," the commander said, not knowing how monstrous a martial artists appetite can be. Within an hour, the mess hall was reduced to a quarter of their food supply, just by this group of people alone.

"Gone...all of it...what are you people?"

Everyone but Kasumi and Nabiki responded, "We're martial artists!!!"

At this point, klaxon's blared throughout the base, and a digitized voice said "Nod troops approaching from the east. All available personnel, report to action posts. I repeat: All personnel, move to repel attackers."

"All of our troops are still waking up though. I don't suppose you people can handle this?," Haverson queried.

"Of course we can," Ranma said, "Let's go get them."

With that, everyone got up, and went outside to the gate that the Nod troops were approaching. Both sides stared each other down. One of the Nod troops then said "What, is this the best that the technologically superior GDI has to offer? ON MY MARK!!!" With this, the militants leveled their rifles on the group, only to notice that they weren't there. "What, where'd they go?"

At this point, Mousse revealed his hidden weapons and had launched a shower of shuriken and bombs at the group, eliminating 15 in one attack. Ryoga had launched a Bakusai Tenketsu at the ground beneath, disorienting the remaining troops so that Ranma could strike them all with his Chestnuts Roasting Over An Open Fire technique. Akane then noticed something and said, "They're sending vehicles. We can't take them on like this."

"Your right Akane," Ranma said. He looked down and noticed one of the militants had a rocket launcher with them. Behind them, 4 Orcas were preparing to lift off and destroy the vehicles from the air. Ranma leveled the twin launcher and fired 2 missiles, taking out the only two vehicles that were heading this way. The Orcas then appeared over the groups heads. A loudspeaker was attached to one of them, a command Orca. "Good job, I doubted you at first, but now I can see you will make fine GDI soldiers. Well done. An Ox Transport is on its way to take you back to GDI Command so that we can get you up to speed with the current situation. Hold on a sec, got an incoming message." A long pause is noticed by the group when Haverson is heard again. "Bad news...this Nod base was only a diversion for GDI's best. Nod launched an attack on the A-SAT Defense Hub, destroying it. This paved the way for a missile attack on the Philadelphia, our orbital base of operations. It was completely destroyed. We are now at war. Here's your transport, hurry up and get aboard NOW!"

With that, Ranma and company board the Ox Transport, unsure of the events to come.

-/0\--/0\-

Why are they in Command and Conquer 3? What is their purpose? Who sent them? And what will become of this war, and the group's military training? Find out in the next chapter of CnR.

Review please, and offer good advise.


	2. Mission 1: The Pentagon

Command and Ranma: GDI; Mission 1

Disclaimer: I own none but the experimental modifications that may crop up; don't sue, thanks

Author Notes: I noticed that somebody pointed out that I spelled Bakusai Tenketsu wrong; I'm sorry for not researching the technique to find the full written name

I also noticed that somebody pointed out a couple things:

1. the unlikeliness that Ryouga can be knocked out by the butt of a rifle

2. the Bakusai Tenketsu actually breaking body armor

I would like to point out that the body armor has a ceramic component, and since 'Breaking Point' was developed to shatter rock, and since ceramic is made from earthen components...enough said

Second, I would like to inform people of Ranma ½, season 5, episode 20. Ryouga steps on a rake. Classic gag, and he's knocked out.

Thanks.

And now for the long awaited chapter 2. The first mission.

-/0\--/0\-

Alarms are blaring throughout the central command center. The person at one of the consoles says to Haverson, "Sir, there's a situation in Washington. The Pentagon was attacked, and we've lost contact with them. Suggestions?"

Haverson replies, "I think we should get Ryouga and Nabiki up to speed and prepped for this mission. It may seem a waste to send Nabiki out there, but without any defenses, the Pentagon is defenseless, and Nabiki certainly knows how to coordinate a force on the ground."

-/0\-

1 week earlier:

Nabiki steps outside the locker room, where she is confronted by Haverson regarding her latest training mission performance. The training op was about working in a squad.

"Nabiki, do you realize what you did out there? You sent in 2 riflemen squads against an entire Nod contingent, and none of the squadsmen even got hurt?"

Nabiki replied with "Well, don't you know it's not the firepower, but the strategy behind it? All I had to do was send both squads in behind, approach while their back's are turned, and then hop on the tanks and kill the drivers? From there, it's a simple matter of taking pock shots at the Militants until everybody's dead."

Haverson took a step back, and came back with "Although we need to work on that mouth a little bit, good job nonetheless. If a mission ever comes up when all you got is infantry and vehicles, your heading out"

-/0\-

As the Ox Transports are en route carrying the seemingly harmless cargo, on board one of them, the techs are getting Ryouga suited up in his specially constructed field armor and making sure the systems are working fine.

--/0\-

1 week ago:

"Commander, we have to do something about Ryouga big-time. I didn't even think it was possible for somebody to get lost on a one-way, one path, walled in running course like that, but somehow he did it. That kid's got NO sense of direction WHATSOEVER!!!"

Haverson appears to be thinking about the situation for a few minutes, then starts to speak. "I see your point. We can't even have him leaving his quarters without an escort just to go take a leak. I don't know if he was dropped as a child, and that knocked something loose or if it was as a result of being whacked with the rifle like that or what, but I think I have a solution." Haverson pushes a button on the console next to him, which opens a communications channel.

"Armory, what is it sir?"

"Johnson, I need you to start preparing a special light-weight armor suit for one of the martial artists. I'm sending specs down to you now."

A few minutes later, Johnson starts talking again. "Sir, you want this suit to have a GPS unit why? Our people have a sense of direction, and their armor displays a nav point when you give a command to them. Could you explain this one to me please?"

"First, the person that armor is for, isn't one of ours. Second, the person that armor is for, got lost on the straight-away course.", Haverson said.

All Johnson could muster was a simple "Ah..."

"Now, I'm gonna send Ryouga down to get measured for the suit. Make sure it allows a lot of movement, and fingerless gloves as well please. I've seen what he can do so far, and I don't want him blowing off one of his sleeves when he goes to attack."

"Copy that sir." With that, the comm line went dead, and Haverson keyed in another comm unit.

"Security team 9, please escort Ryouga to the Armory for measurements."

A simple reply of "Yes sir" was heard, then the tell-tale click of the line closing.

-/0\-

3 days later

Ryouga is on a platform, in a new field combat suit. Techs are circling the platform, making sure the suit checks out all green.

One of the techs, Johnson, starts explaining the suit to Ryouga.

"All right Ryouga, just listen up as I explain how your new combat suit works. I've received a report from Cologne that you don't need much in the way of protection, however, from what I understand, your rock hard body can't stop bullets. So we've added a new experimental repulsion grid emitter to the suit. It projects a simple energy barrier, the kind that's seen controlling the growth of Tiberium. Guaranteed to stop about 20 bullets before failing. Second thing to note is the fingerless gloves. That will allow you to use that fancy rock-breaking thing of yours without wrecking your armor. Finally, this suit features a GPS unit on top of the nav marker system. It'll at least help make sure you don't get lost. Basically, your GPS unit displays buildings in real-time from our satellite network imaging system, and places them in your helmet. Arrows will flash in the direction you need to rotate to head to your objective, and it automatically orients the image so that it's facing the same way you are. Are you following me so far?"

"I think so...does this suit inhibit movement at all?" Ryouga inquired.

"Absolutely not. This suit is a light-weight suit that without the shield emitters, would be completely useless except as a fashion statement. This will allow you to take cover if you come under fire and allow the emitters to recharge. Now go ahead and and head to your quarters and back. I've sent a waypoint to your armor. Good luck."

-/0\-

The Ox transports begin landing to the west of a group of power plants already under fire. Ryouga's comm system flares to life.

"Ryouga, it's Haverson. Stay next to Nabiki. Make sure she gets into the Pentagon so she can interface with the defense systems and brings them back on line. Sadly, our only engineers are still in training, so she was all that was available. Good luck."

As the riflemen finish cleaning up the power facility of the Nod presence, Nabiki's communicator beeps. She activates it, and Haverson's voice is heard.

"Nabiki, enter one of the power plants and bring them back on line; when Nod hit, they disrupted the link with the Pentagon defenses."

"Consider it already done." Nabiki replied as she closed the line.

Nabiki entered the facility, following a squad of Riflemen to make sure Nod wasn't inside. 5 minutes later, turbines are heard spinning, and the gentle hum of energy flowing is heard. Nabiki comes out 30 seconds later with the riflemen, and they all start heading to the Pentagon. Ryouga takes this opportunity to have a chat with the middle Tendo.

"Hey Nabiki, I wanted to know something."

"Yeah, what is is Ryo?"

"Well, let's say that there's this guy, who really likes this girl he knows, and I mean likes likes. He can't work up the courage to tell her how he really feels, because he's afraid of rejection and all. How would he go about talking in such a way that he's not directly saying it, but he gets his point across?"

Nabiki at that point, held her hand up, which means 'hold position', turns around to face Ryouga, then approaches him. She stares at his helmet, like she can see through the visor, and then starts to speak.

"Well he would have to drop a few subtle hints at first, see if she picks up on it. If that doesn't work, then he would want to increase the strength of those hints. At the same time, he would want to control the rest of his body language so that he doesn't show that he's nervous. So...who's your friend?"

Ryouga tries very hard to not take a step back at the last question, gathers himself mentally, then replies with "Nobody you would know. Thanks Nabiki."

15 minutes later, the group arrive at the Pentagon. Nabiki immediately heads into the entrance, and brings the speaker system on line. She opens a comm line to Haverson. "Control reestablished with the Pentagon. I'm going to set up a perimeter here. I do believe I will need some wheels though out here. Nothing goes better with Grenadiers than an APC to launch the grenades out of."

"Confirmed Nabiki. Reinforcements approved. ETA 10 minutes."

Nabiki closes the comm lines, and starts feeding orders to the various squads, putting the riflemen into the conveniently placed guard towers, and pulling Ryouga back into the Pentagon.

"Sorry Ryouga, but I gotta have you wait until the APC's arrive. Please try not to leave the safety of the doorway."

-/0\-

Back at HQ, one of Haverson's crew finishes searching through a database, and turns around to face Haverson.

"Haverson, I found the information you need, however...the info we are looking for is not only deep in the middle of a red zone, but it's also disconnected from the outside world, we need to get people in there to download the data to a disk and bring it back for review."

"All right then Jordon. Start preparing an operation with 3 Zone Trooper squads. They're going to Tokyo"

-/0\-

15 minutes later, Ryouga finds himself in an APC heading towards a Nod outpost. Nabiki opens a comm line with him to brief him on his task.

"All right Ryouga, listen carefully. I finished sweeping the area, and there's a Nod outpost blocking APC reinforcements from the north. The APC can handle the troops no prob. Your job is to destroy the buildings so that the troops aren't pouring out of that base like a broken faucet. Think you can handle it?"

"Of course I can handle it Nabiki, but why are you giving out the orders and not Haverson?"

"Haverson left command of this op to me. He said something about other missions happening. Makes sense when you think about it."

At this, the sounds of gunfire are heard, and the driver yells something along the lines of "Get out there and take out those structures NOW, we'll draw their fire for you." at Ryouga. He then hops out of the vehicle, and hops over the APC toward the Hand of Nod. He carefully observes the structure, seemingly meditating, when all of a sudden, he pulls back his fist, extends his fore-finger, and strikes the building somewhere near the base at 5 key points. All of a sudden, the building collapses, obviously crushing anyone unlucky enough to be inside. Ryouga then moves on at lightning speed to the rest of the structures in the area and takes them down. His APC, obviously trashed, pulls up alongside, and the crew tells him to get inside so that they can move onto the next target. Other APC's are seen heading back to the Pentagon to retrieve squads for the final attack.

-/0\-

12 Zone Troopers are lined up outside, each armor marked with one of three colors. Haverson and Jordon are in front of them, starting to brief them on their next mission.

"All right, listen up. Normally, we'd send a light squad on a data retrieval mission. However, we don't do that to the middle of a red zone. There's a data terminal deep in the middle of the Tokyo Red Zone, and we can't access it from here. Nod has a tight control on the surface border, so we can't airlift you directly into Tokyo. However, old and new map comparisons reveal an intact subway line that starts about 10 miles to the north of Tokyo, that actually stops near the data terminal's location. Your mission is this: traverse the subway tunnel, download all the data on Nerima onto the disks provided, and exfiltrate back through the tunnel. You have your orders, report to your dropship's."

At this, the 3 squads disperse to the waiting V-35's. After they're all on board, the transports take off. Jordon turns to Haverson and asks "Sir, are you sure about this? I mean what if their story about an alternate universe checks out and they aren't even in the system?"

Haverson turns to Jordon. "We'll find out soon enough if they did time-travel, or a dimensional shift Lieutenant. We'll find out soon enough."

-/0\-

In Washington, the APC's are moving into position around the perimeter of another Nod facility near the Pentagon.

"All right people, this is the center of Nod operations for this area. We take this out, and we can go home." Nabiki said over the GDI general comm frequency. She continued to brief the squads. "So here's the plan: Ryouga and 4 Grenadier/APC pairs will approach from the south. This group will take out the structures marked in yellow on their HUD's. The rest of you will approach from the east to draw their attention away from the strike squad. 1st squad, move in 30 seconds; 2nd squad, in 45."

10 confirmations bark back at her as she closed the line. At this point, all Nabiki can do now is watch the screen, and call in the required retrieval transports to egress her forces out of the area and back to base. Of course, she allowed for some of the forces to remain behind. She figured in 4 APC's and Riflemen squads staying behind, but she can wait to tell them this little wrinkle. She turns her attention back to the battle in progress. 'Seems the APC crew was smart to take pock shots at the base', Nabiki thought; 'That's all it takes to get their attention, and that's all that's needed to...ah, right down to the letter as predicted, all their mobile forces have cleared the base, and there goes squad 2...doing a sweep and clear. As the Grenadiers clear out the further building, Ryouga does his magic on the first two. Speak of the devil, there goes structure 1, and there he goes to structure 2.'

At this last though, 2 buildings are seen either blowing up, or falling to pieces before her very eyes.

A screen image shifts to the face of Haverson as a comm line clicks open.

"Good job out there Nabiki. I can tell your in for a command role with GDI. And...it pays big."

Immediately, Nabiki perks up at the last statement and says to Haverson, "I'm definitely staying for sure then. Count me in."

Haverson laughs at Nabiki's last statement, and responds. "Ah your pretty funny when you wanna be. Go ahead and board a transport home and get ready to be debriefed."

The comm link clicks shut after the middle Tendo replies with an "Affirmative", and heads outside right into Ryouga. They exchange apologies, and board the transports and head home.

-/0\-

Haverson receives an encrypted message from the dropships stating that they've landed, and the Zone Troopers have entered the tunnel.

He then types in a reply and sends the message to the three dropships, codenamed Omega Group.

-/0\--/0\-

Ok, so that's chapter 2. Here's what's in order for the next chapter:

Hazard alarms, as well as Akane and Shampoo working together on an operation

Also, Mr. Saotome and Mr. Tendo screw around in things they shouldn't, and they find out what death in this universe is like for the visiting martial artists.


	3. Mission 2: Langley Air Force Base

Command and Ranma: GDI

Act 1, Mission 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the experimental modifications that crop up; don't sue; thanks.

Author Notes:

All right, continued reports of my misspelling 'Breaking Point's' proper name back in chapter 1 keep coming in

YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH IT? Tough cheese. It ain't changing anytime soon

Also, reports have come in about how Genma being the first to speak

Haverson carries a lot of power, and Genma wasn't being addressed...who would trust an old man that really didn't do much and surrendered to the soldiers upon seeing them?

Plus it isn't Genma ½, it's Ranma ½

Also, Genma's dying in this one. So no more scared panda man.

Finally, as you could see in the last chapter, I attempted to make a divider...didn't go over too well that time

-/0\- -/0\-

3 days after the Pentagon mission, Haverson continues to analyze field reports from the scouts. His command panel flashes, indicating an incoming message. The message is from Omega sending back an update on their status. The update mentions that the team is about 1/3 of the way down the tunnel, and they are taking it nice and slow so as to not alert Nod to their presence.

-/0\-

Elsewhere in the base, Dr. Mort in the medical bay recieves a new patient for treatment: the head chef. 'Ah man, and tonight was his famous lasagna too'. He opens a comm line with the commander and reports in the recent event.

Haverson is startled by this, and forwards this to Cologne and Shampoo.

Jordan turns around and inquires as to why he doesn't let Akane observe them cooking. "Sir, she could use the pointers."

Haverson gives Jordan a look that says you wanna steal Nod's pleasure of killing us and replies. "You remember what happened last week when she went in the galley to make food?"

-/0\-

1 week ago

Dr. Mort recieves a chef as a patient, and calls up Haverson to report the latest event.

Haverson understands, and calls up Akane, not knowing about her lack of cooking skill. "Akane, you think you can head up to the galley and replace one of the chef's?

"Of course I can" says Akane. "I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Thanks." With this, Haverson closes the comm line and forwards the latest finding to the head chef

-/0\-

30 minutes later

Alarms start blaring and a computer voice comes on over the PA system. "Warning: Hazardous materials detected in the galley. HazMat teams dispatched now. Repeat: Hazardous materials level Rho detected in the galley.

"Level Rho HazMat? That's the equivalent of a Tiberium spill...What on earth is being made down there?" Haverson said under his breath. "Jordon, take over, I'm going down to find out what's going on."

"Yes sir"

Haverson makes his way down to the galley, only to find...something...green and glowing in a cooking pot and Akane refusing to leave the stove.

"What is going on here? Akane, exactly what is that stuff supposed to be?" Haverson inquired, pointing at the green substance.

"Well, it started out as soup, but we didn't have any hot sauce, so...I kinda...improvised." said Akane.

"HazMat, get that stuff into Hazard Storage Delta. I want to make sure that stuff isn't fed to the soldiers. And cryo-seal that pot too, I don't want it used EVER again. Security, make sure Akane doesn't step foot into a kitchen EVER again. I don't even want her in the buffet line to be honest." said Haverson as he turned to the groups he gave orders to so that they understood.

At this, Akane stomped back to her quarters. 'This is all Ranma's fault. He knew I was cooking and must have triggered the alert. But if that's the case, then how did the system know it was in the galley?'

-/0\-

present

"Oh yeah, how could I forget? Hey commander, if that stuff's been down there for a whole week, do you think maybe it became edible all on its own?" said Jordon.

Haverson replied to Jordon with a simple "Don't be silly". Unfortunately, he couldn't say anything else, as the alarm started going off, signaling a new sortie against Nod.

"Commander, situation at Langley Air Force Base. They just came under attack from Nod forces in the area. We also lost contact with the airfields in the area. We can't field our Orca's from there. Reports indicates that 4 sniper team vital to our success in the region have also gone missing. Without them, we can't coordinate artillery barrages on the Nod base in the area. I suggest we deploy Akane and Shampoo into the region. They seem like a good match for this mission."

Haverson ponders over this for a while. "Very well." He keys in a comm line to the two martial artists. "Akane, Shampoo, gear up. Your getting deployed for the next mission."

Both confirm orders and 5 minutes later are in V-35's with their equipment.

-/0\-

1 week ago

Akane walks into the armory to see why she was called down. Tech Sargent Johnson quickly intercepts her and pulls her over to a pedestal where a white combat suit with a fancy helmet is seen. Off to one side is a weird looking double-tined weapon.

"Ah, Akane, glad you could make it." Johnson started.

"What exactly is all this about anyway?" Akane queried.

"Oh nothing much. Just gotta make sure that your new field suit works like a charm. This is your new Semi-Powered Infiltrator TacSuit. It doesn't do much to stop a bullet, but then again it has this nifty little feature we acquired from Nod about 10 years ago that we just now perfected for field deployment. Lieutenant, activate the suit's Lazarus field."

A technician near the platform confirms the order, and presses a few buttons on the console near the platform. At once, the SPI TacSuit starts to flicker when it disappears. Akane is a little shocked at this.

"Where...where did the suit go?" Akane queried, a little fright is visible in her voice.

"The suit's still there. It just went invisible. Tiny cameras and emitters are all over the suit, and the backpack has a pattern buffer that stores the terrain data. The camera's capture the data in real-time, the pattern buffer holds the data, and transmits it to the appropriate emitter. All this allows you to literally blend into the environment. However, all of this shuts down for about 5 seconds when you fire off your brand new weapon: the Impact Grenade Launcher. That's this nifty little device over here. I understand your a pretty powerful fighter, however, even your not strong enough to lob a cement chunk 100 feet. That's what this does. Your base ammunition are these Impact Grenades that explode when they impact on something. However, there is a velocity fuse on it, so simply hand-lobbing, or dropping them won't set them off. The launcher is also designed in such a way that, if you run out of grenades, you can lob other stuff you can find, like rocks or, and I highly advise not doing this, but chunks of Tiberium as well. Any questions?"

"Just one...what?" was all Akane could muster, apparently getting lost about half-way through.

Johnson laughs at this, and responds. "Yeah, your pretty funny. Go ahead and get the suit on, then pick up your rifle, 3 of the grenades, and head on out to the training course to get used to the suit."

-/0\-

The next day

Shampoo walks into the armory, and Johnson comes and meets her, however keeps his distance, seeing how the girl is a little ticked off today.

"Where my bonbori?" Shampoo asks in her broken english.

"Your bonbori were undergoing modifications to be more effective in this day and age. If you'll just follow me over here, I can get you acquainted with the modifications."

Johnson and Shampoo walk over to a pedestal where another SPI TacSuit and a pair of bonbori are resting. Johnson gets Shampoo up to speed on her field suit. After that, he explains the modifications to the bonbori.

"Your bonbori were modified so that they are more effective on structures. We've reinforced the middle of them, as well as the handle so that the ends don't snap off. The alloy used is the same stuff used on our still-experimental Mammoth Tank. The cores of the bonbori also use a velocity-driven sonic generator, increasing the power 5 times it's normal strength, as well as giving the weapons a little range to them."

"Oh, bonbori too too powerful. Shampoo like better than old bonbori"

"Um, yeah. Tell you what, why don't you get suited up and go out to the training arena, and try not to level the place."

-/0\-

Present day, on board an Ox Transport heading to Langley

"You ready for this Shampoo?" Akane started.

"Shampoo ready for anything as long as Ranma watching"

"Um, yeah...about that. Shampoo, why do you have to chase after Ranma like you do?" Akane started, apparently touching on a sensitive topic.

"Why brick girl want to know? Brick girl try to steal Shampoo's secrets." Shampoo replied with.

The last statement got Akane mad, because at that point, she let out a big humph, turned around, and jabbed her helmet onto her head, locking it into place.

Shampoo did the same, and at that moment, a jolt was felt as the transport begins its decent. An intercom flares on as the pilot speaks.

"All right ladies, we're here. Go give them hell for me, ok?"

The transport's hatchs flew open, and along with the 5 other transports carrying troops, Akane and Shampoo disembarked. Akane slams a grenade home in her rifle and primes it. They both head toward the GDI base, charging into battle with their weapons held high.

-/0\-

Command center

Haverson recieves an encrypted transmission from Omega team. He activates the comm link, and the telltale static of the encryption system is heard along with the voice of a soldier.

"Sir, we found the data terminal. Beginning to download all of the Nerima data now. Give us about 5 minutes, then we're out of here."

Haverson, with a look of joy on his face sends out a quick "Confirmed, hurry back soon" and closes the link.

-/0\-

Langley

With the base cleared and a link established with Haverson to keep forces going, Akane and Shampoo take a short break in the barracks to get their next orders.

"Listen up then, there's a sniper team pinned down near your position. They've hid themselves well, so you gotta clear out the Nod garrisons in order to unpin them. Also, once they're under our control again, keep them alive; we don't have clearance from brass to deploy an Armory there, so you don't get more snipers."

"Shampoo handle mean men." At this, Shampoo leaves the barracks, switching on the Lazarus field.

5 minutes later, a pair of booms are heard, as a couple of buildings suddenly collapse.

Another 5 minutes later, Shampoo returns with a couple of snipers in tow.

About 20 minutes later, enough troops have gathered to retake the airfield. Surprisingly , there's an engineer in the group. The GDI general comm frequency flares to life as Haverson begins giving out orders to everybody.

"All right people, this will be run like so. The large group at the base will split up into two groups. One group will make sure that the engineer going with them makes it to the Refinery in the city. We need the funds stored there so that we can get more forces deployed for the final assault. Group 2 will move north to reclaim the airfield from Nod. Akane and Shampoo will lead that group. After the airfield is retaken, we will get some Orca's in the air, and we can then move both groups back together for the final assault. We move in 30 seconds"

Akane and Shampoo started to move to the front of their pack. APC's started rolling up to collect the troop squads they were assigned to. Missile Squads and Grenadiers were assigned to the transports.

-/0\-

Back at the base, two men are found sulking around near Hazard Storage Delta, obviously looking for food.

"Soun, i'm positive there's food around here SOMEWHERE." Genma stated.

"Maybe it's in here Genma."

"Now why would food be kept in Hazard Storage?"

"Secret stash?" Soun tossed out on a whim.

They entered the storage room, and immediately gravitated toward the container that held Akane's failed attempt at cooking.

"Dig in." Genma stated.

15 minutes later, medics arrived behind security personnel, answering the intruder alert. Both men are dead, having consumed Akane's failed soup.

One of them starts to clean up the substance that's supposed to be soup, and the other calls up Dr. Mort to tell him that two bodies will be arriving for autopsy. Nobody's paying attention when the bodies fade out of existance.

-/0\-

Genma and Soun both wake up in the backyard of the Tendo Dojo, the past events a blur in their mind. Happosai enters the garden and starts whacking them with a pipe wondering where they were for the last couple of days.

"WHAT?" both martial artists yelled out in fright. Obviously, they don't remember the post-apocalyptic future too well.

-/0\-

Back on the battlefield, the tell-tale humming of the Orca engines powering up is heard as 8 of the VTOL aircraft take off and head off toward the Nod base ahead of the forces. Both groups suffered minor casualties, however, Haverson feels that they can continue with that group.

"All right, good job people. I've uploaded the rendezvous points to your helmet displays. Start heading there now and prepare for the final assault."

At this, Akane and Shampoo hop in the back of an APC. Akane stocks up on her grenades, while Shampoo cleans her bonbori's. As they approach, gunfire is heard outside, and the girls quickly leave the APC, as they also notice the sound of an aircraft's engine. They make it out just in time, as the APC explodes behind them. They engage their Lazarus fields and start moving toward the Nod base.

Their comm units start beeping. "Ladies, this is Sargent Johnson in the Armory. DO NOT approach base. The base defenses will cut you down if you approach. The Lazarus fields were designed to make you invisible to human eyes, not sensors. If you can though, lob some grenades onto the control units to knock out the turrets. I doubt you can get close enough to use the bonbori's sonic sweep before you come under fire...Akane, your suit can interface with the gun and show you where the grenades will land...I've uploaded the location of the control hubs to your firing assistant."

"Um...ok." is all Akane can manage. She brings her launcher up, chambers a grenade, and takes aim. A circle is noted in her display as she moves the rifle so that the circle is centered around one of the control nodes.

She fires a grenade, and a nice thoomp is heard over the hill as one of the nodes is disabled.

She aims at the second one, fires again, and a second thoomp is noted.

Akane and Shampoo then move up the hill. They then split up and do a clean sweep. Akane slings her weapon behind her and brings a giant mallet out from nowhere. Akane and Shampoo become the Nerima Wrecking Crew that they're infamously known as.

-/0\-

Back at base, Haverson watches in horror as the two girls take down the base in one not-so-clean sweep. After the carnage, all the troops are pulled back.

30 minutes later, after the girls were debriefed and stripped down for the unorthodox technique on the battlefield, Haverson recieves a message from Omega team, stating that they have left on the Ox transports, and that they will arrive in about 3 days.

-/0\--/0\-

Well, that's that.

Next chapter: answers from Nerima, and Ranma's mission in North Hampton


	4. Mission 3: Hampton Roads

Command and Ranma GDI

Act 1, Mission 3: Hampton Roads

Disclaimer: I own none but the experimental modifications; don't sue; thanks.

Author notes: It's noted that Nabiki in a command role is a little cliché. To be honest, she's the only person in the group brave enough to go to a combat zone and take on a leadership role. Ranma likes to charge in alone, Ryouga gets lost rather easily (I poke major fun at this in chapter 2 with a walled in one-way obstacle course), and Kasumi is just a little on the gentle side for this role. Oh, and I also removed Genma and Soun from the picture by instigating them with a sealed container of Akane's cooking gone wrong yet again.

I would also like to take this time to explain why I used the term 'stripped down' in the end with the debriefing mention. I used it because it's an easy way of saying "their tactics were stripped down, and they were told what regulations said tactics violated'. Even though the Nerima Wrecking Crew isn't an official part of GDI, they're deployed on GDI missions in GDI gear, on GDI gear. If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck...in this case it doesn't necessarily mean it's a duck, but it has to play one.

Finally, I'd like to now point out that rude reviews like the one that was forwarded onto Support, are not, and WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!! Writing a review like our "friend" kambeiisahotoldman WILL result in a referral. Write at your own risk.

With that, Chapter 4 is below. Thanks for your continued support, and continue to write supportive feedback reviews that further the development of the fanfic.

-/0\--/0\-

Haverson's quarters

Haverson is sitting at his desk, reviewing the recovered data from Tokyo, obviously looking for something. He types something into his computer and hits the enter key. On one display, his search is processing. On the other display, Einstein's research into time-travel and inter-dimensional theories. The first display beeps, pulling up Nerima police data. One thing that catches Haverson's eye is a "self-policing" list with the martial artists names on it. He pulls up their files, obviously getting more confused by the minute

'Something doesn't add up. These records list numerous complaints in regards to certain...disturbances...caused by this group. No wonder they are dubbed the Wrecking Crew of Nerima. They're billed for 50 million in property damage total. The only decent ones here are the non-combatants who are family to the martial artists. But this doesn't make sense.' Haverson continues to think the information over. 'Well, they're story about living in 1995 adds up all right, but what did they do to get here? According to Einstein's research, it is technically possible to cross dimensional boundaries, but the circumstances that would cause it are few and far between. Not to mention the disappearance of two seemingly dead corpses. That suggests that we've stepped out of Einstein's house, and into the house of Siegfried.'

At this point, his comm line beeped. He clicked it open, clearing the data from both screens. Lieutenant Jordon's on the other end. "Sir, we've detected a Nod facility at the Hampton Roads Shipping Docks. This seems to be the location of the United States Nod incursion. We've been monitoring the facility, and we've noticed a pattern in their reinforcements. We think we found an opportunity to strike the facility and shut down their reinforcement line. I did a resource analysis, and we can only spare a commando initially. However, once their radar is down, we can sneak in some more troops to assist in the take-down of the main facility. Requesting permission to head this operation sir."

Haverson didn't hesitate in granting permission for Jordon to run the operation. Haverson had other things on his mind, including asking a certain Chinese matriarch some questions. The comm line clicked shut, and Haverson began his hunt for Cologne.

-/0\-

1 week ago:

Ranma burst into the armory, and immediately gravitated toward Tech Sargent Johnson. "Hey, is my field uniform ready?"

"First, address me as sir. I know your not an official GDI soldier, but I am still the the ranking officer around here. Second, it's not a uniform, it's a tactical combat suit. Third, it was JUST now finished, even with your modification requests. Step over this way so I can get you acquainted with the Advanced Light-Weight Commando Combat Suit."

Ranma was a little skeptical at first, but started to get the suit on. He finished with the helmet, and then started to request information on how the suit worked.

"If you will wait, I will get to that. The first thing you will notice about the suit is that, like all Commando combat suits, it has strapped on it's legs concealed in their own pockets are the det-charges. The exotic secret compound used in them are more explosive than standard C4. Just one, and the building's done. Second thing you will notice is that the suit is not environmentally sealed completely, so avoid Tiberium exposure for more than 30 seconds. Also, the Cat imager and the Water injector systems were added as you requested, but I'm not sure why those are necessary. Oh well, probably going to find out soon enough. The rest of the suit is also fairly standard for a commando suit. jetpack, railgun assault rifle..."

"Oh I won't be needing that." Ranma interrupted at the mention of the rifle.

"Ah...ok, nix the rifle. Encrypted uplink to the GDI satellite network, and also, to the command center. This goes double for the comm link. Also, it's unisex like you requested, but I can't see the need for that."

"Trust me. It will be needed." Ranma said.

"All right. It's your suit. Finally, like the rest of the light-weight suits, it doesn't inhibit movement at all. Now head on out to the training field to try it out."

Ranma then exited the armory, only when the suit was released from the stand.

-/0\-

The roar or the Ox's engines subsided signaling the infiltration phase of the Hampton Roads mission. He still had about ½ a mile to go before he reached the road south of the first target: a Nod Operations Center that ran radar for the area.

10 minutes later, he GPS activated, displaying his location, and 3 objectives. He observed his area, and noticing footsteps, ducked into the shadows of a pair of shipping containers.

As the group of Militants walked by, Ranma popped out and took down the group using select pressure points.

Ranma then moved north and came across a strange building with radar dishes. He figures this is the target, because the building has a strange triangle with a scorpion tale: the Nod symbol.

Ranma then proceeded to place a couple charges at the base; one on each side. He sets them to the same detonator, moves away, and presses the button.

Immediately, the building is engulfed in a massive flash then crumbles. The resulting shockwave even takes Ranma by surprise. He's knocked backwards by an invisible wall, and his helmet display is slightly disrupted.

'Wow, that was bigger than I thought. When they said these explosives packed a punch, they weren't kidding. Next time, use only one charge.' Ranma thought in the aftershock.

-/0\-

Haverson managed to arrange a meeting with Cologne in his ready room. About 5 minutes later, he is sitting face to face with the matriarch, hoping to finally have all his questions answered.

"So, what is it that you wanted to ask of me?" Cologne started.

"Well, I've been doing a little digging around, and I managed to confirm your story of being from 1995. However, the info I uncovered just raised more questions. Instead of trying to make heads or tales of this, I was hoping you could explain."

At this point, he tapped his display, pulling up the Nerima police files. He then started to read aloud.

"Ranma Saotome. Age 16. Other info: Cursed Spring of Drowned Girl; numerous unwanted arranged marriages. Total damage caused: $1.5 million."

He changed files. "Akane Tendo. Age 16. Other info: Can't cook; don't eat results. Total damage: $1 million and 10 stomachs."

He cycles through the files, reading off relevant info from each.

"Ryouga Hibiki, A.K.A. the Lost Boy, A.K.A. P-Chan. Age unknown. Other info: Cursed Spring of Drowned Black Piglet; no sense of direction. Total damage: $2 million."

"Ukyo. Age 17. Other info: Professional traveling chef. Total damage: $500K."

"Shampoo. Age unknown. Other info: Cursed Spring of Drowned Cat; Chinese Amazon. Total damage: $4 million."

"Mousse. Age unknown. Other info: Cursed Spring of Drowned Duck; Chinese Amazon; Hidden Weapons Master; near-blind. Total damage: $2 million."

Cologne kept staring as Haverson read off the info. She then decided to speak. "Where did you get this?"

"The Tokyo primary data terminal. This was a black op I ran, because of the nature of the data, and the region it was in. These are the Nerima police records on the Wrecking Crew. Could you explain this to me please."

"Well, it all started sometime in 1993 with a girl and a panda..."

-/0\-

Kasumi sat down in the cafeteria, having finished final close down from dinner. She has a pot of tea and a teacup with her.

'Wow, barely 2 weeks and everyone's already busy. Ryouga, Akane, and Shampoo already completed missions. Ranma's still out, and Ukyo and Mousse are prepping now for something. Cologne's nowhere to be found, and Nabiki's in the EVA database room. I sure hope we get out of this okay. Although maybe I should take up self-defense just in case something happens to me. I've noticed some of the soldiers eying me funny. Oh well. Maybe i'll put in a request to Haverson next time I see him.

-/0\-

Ranma picks up 5 more rocks and hurls them with surprising accuracy and speed into the last of the defenders.

'Well that takes care of the troops.' At this, he hears the aggressive hum of the Nod aircraft. 'I'd better hurry up here.'

Ranma moves to the base of the tower and plants a charge, then moves away before hitting the detonate button.

Immediately, the base of the tower is engulfed in the blast, and the whole structure falls over like a felled tree. The shock wave wasn't powerful either, plus Ranma wasn't in the blast's path.

Soon after, his comm line beeps. "Ranma, good job. Reinforcements are inbound to the west. Go ahead and meet up with them."

After hanging up on Jordon, Ranma starts heading to the rendezvous point.

-/0\-

As the comm line clicked dead, Jordon thought to himself, 'The least he could do is acknowledge me.'

"Jordon report."

Jordon turned around to see Haverson in this command seat. "Sir, Ranma's cleared out the airfield, and is moving to destroy the main base in the area now. Did you get your questions answered?"

"Yes Jordon. Sadly, the rest of the senior staff must wait 5 more days for their answers though."

At this, Haverson starts typing something into his console. From the sounds of the typing, it's a message.

-/0\-

One of the sniper teams noticed Ranma approaching, and snapped a salute. "Teams Alpha and Delta are at your disposal sir."

"Good, cuz somebody needs to keep the engine warm. I work alone."

At this, Ranma continued onto the next objective.

"Hey Alpha 1, 5 bucks says you can't pop him from here.

All of the snipers chuckled at this, kinda.

-/0\-

Tech Sergant Johnson's terminal beeped, signaling a new message.

"Hm, senior staff meeting, in 5 days."

'What is this about all of a sudden?'

-/0\-

As Ranma approaches the Nod base, his opposition gets fiercer and fiercer. He thumbs a certain control set on the back of his right glove.

"Ranma to Command. Have a medical pickup team deployed to this point to arrive in 10 minutes. This op is over."

At this, he closes the comm line before questions are asked.

'Set for 8 minutes of berserk before cold and hot water is injected underneath the armor...'

-/0\-

Dr. Mort is busy monitoring Ranma's bio's, when his message box beeped. He manages to read it before alarms start going off. Ranma's bio monitors are going nuts. Mort opens a channel.

-/0\-

Haverson opens the channel.

"Commander, Ranma's bio signs are showing elevated stress levels."

"I know, I can see it." Haverson opens a channel to Ranma, who is on his hands and knees now. "Ranma, what's happening over there?"

The comm channel is only static, then a sound is heard that sends shivers down everyone's spines: the sound of a cat's meow.

-/0\-

One of the militant squads approaches the strange soldier, and assuming he surrendered, moves closer, only to have his gun segmented.

At once, a sound not unlike a cat's meow is heard, carrying a strong enough message to have a Militant squadsman faint.

-/0\-

Dr. Mort is fed a live feed of Ranma. He can't help but look on in horror as Ranma slices through 3, 5 and 10 Nod Attack Bikes in an instant with unseen claws.

-/0\-

Haverson turns to Cologne, even as Ranma starts to make mince meat of the base.

"What...in god's name...is going on?" is all Haverson can muster up.

"All in due course." is all Cologne says.

-/0\-

5 minutes later, Ranma regains consciousness in the troop bay of an Ox transport.

"Sir, when we get back to base, Chief Medical Officer Mort will want to examine you. In the meantime, rest..."

-/0\--/0\-

Well, that was chapter 4...there's two more chapters left of Act 1...Washington D.C., and the staff meeting epilogue. Keep an eye out for them. Afterwards, the African Act 2

In the next chapter: Ukyo's and Mousse's chance to shine...and their loadouts for the mission.


	5. Mission 4: The White House

Command and Ranma GDI: Act 1, Mission 4: The White House

Disclaimer: I own none but the occasional experimental stuff mentioned; don't sue; thanks.

Author Notes: School started up, so now I'm writing out whatever I can before I input it into the chapters. I've also decided to include some tech entries to give the readers a better look into the Tiberium universe. This chapter will explain Tiberium, and why it's so dangerous. The following two entries are from Command and Conquer 3's tech database.

Tiberium: A gift or a curse?

Tiberium is a scientific curiosity, a vastly powerful resource, an unprecedented environmental cataclysm, a catalyst for war, and much more. It's like nothing we've ever seen before and it is constantly transforming itself.

We are almost certain Tiberium is Extraterrestrial in origin; it is not man-made and there is no evidence of the substance on Earth prior to its first appearance half a century ago. Early forms of Tiberium were almost organic, sprouting out of the ground in what seemed to be plant-like pods, leaching minerals out of the Earth and emitting clouds of toxic gas. Over time, Tiberium showed it had the ability to evolve and change.

By 2047, most Tiberium on Earth has manifested in what we know as its most common form: a self-replicating proton lattice that turns any matter it touches into more of itself, giving off powerful radiation in the process. It can change anything it comes into contact with into more Tiberium.

Is Tiberium terraforming the Earth into a planet suitable for alien life? Is it a weapon? Is it a creature of some kind? Perhaps some kind of consciousness resides in the crystal lattices, a quantum crystalline brain that grows ever smarter as it grows and grows. There are many theories about what Tiberium actually is…and why it is here. Ultimately, its origin and its purpose-if it has one-are still a mystery.

GDI has not given up on trying to contain the spread of Tiberium. With Tiberium infestation reaching critical levels and new, more sinister variants of the substance turning up, things started to look pretty grim for planet Earth in the middle of the 21st century. However, GDI has found a vulnerability in the green crystal that they have begun to exploit. GDI Engineers have found the resonant frequency for Tiberium…and they have created Sonic Resonators that are capable of breaking up Tiberium crystals.

A high level scientific explanation of the alien substance is included here for students, Engineers, and scientists: The most recent form of Tiberium is a dense "Dynamic Proton Lattice" held together by exotic heavy particles. When Tiberium comes into contact with other matter, the heavy particles randomly collide with the nuclei of the target matter, smashing it into pieces (in the case of smaller nuclei) or incrementally knocking off protons and neutrons (in the case of heavier nuclei). Tiberium captures a fraction of the protons that are ejected during this collision process and incorporates them into its own structure, thus transmuting matter into more Tiberium. Whenever one of the heavy particles-a muon or tauon-collides with an atomic nucleus, fission occurs, which results in the production of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma radiation as well as other forms of Electromagnetic radiation (like infra-red). During the transmutation process, nuclei that Tiberium has come into contact with may be charged with nuclei with different (usually fewer) numbers of protons or neutrons.

The following entry is not for the faint of heart. It describes how people would die from Tiberium exposure.

Health Effects of Tiberium Contamination

What happens if you're exposed to Tiberium? Nothing good. If you come into direct contact with Tiberium, the green matter will start to fuse with your skin within about 20 seconds. You'll feel an intense burning sensation, similar to touching a hot pan or spilling acid on your skin. A full blown infection will manifest if you aren't treated immediately. Your flesh will begin to crystallize; eventually your internal organs will shut down as the Tiberium extends rigid crystalline runners throughout your body. If you breathe in the crystal, then it will become embedded in your lungs. You'll lose the ability to process oxygen as your lung tissue crystallizes. Eventually, you'll start coughing up blood and will hemorrhage to death.

In some cases-and for unknown reason-Tiberium infection will trigger cellular mutation. It's not cancer in that the mutations seem strangely directed; they don't kill you, but your body will begin to transform. The mechanism for this situation is not well understood.

With that being said, onto the story.

-/0\-

Jordon's talking with Nabiki about her next mission in the briefing room. "As a commander, I am obligated to inform you of upcoming missions so that you have ample time to prepare for the op. Our next sortie will involve you heading to the White House to remove the Nod presence there. You have overnight to pick your special forces before we brief you and your group on the mission. Dismissed."

As Nabiki left the briefing room, she was thinking over her choices for the next mission. 'Hm, maybe I'll use Ukyo and Mousse this time around. Ryouga's still resting from the Pentagon mission. Akane and Shampoo are a little too aggressive, besides, they're more suited to all out destruction, not a surgical removal. Ranma's still deployed, and possibly out of action by the time tomorrow comes. Yeah. Ukyo and Mousse will do. Now to do a little research on their equipment after informing them'

5 minutes later, Nabiki swings by the database room to do some research.

-/0\-

1 week ago

Ukyo arrived in the armory, where she was greeted by Johnson. She then followed him to a pedestal, where a couple techs are finishing up on a combat suit. Johnson instructs Ukyo to start putting on the suit while he explains her new loadout.

"Your equipment was a little harder to prepare, mainly due to the fact that we weren't expecting a 150 pound spatula like that. We managed to make a cast form out of it, and we made you a new one out of a lighter, but stronger material. We also included a piece at the end to make it the equivalent of a chain-scythe. Just twist like so" Johnson twisted the handle about midway, separating the monster spatula into two segments joined by a chain "and you're ready to start swinging. Your flour bombs are no longer 5 pound sacks of flour and pepper. Instead, they are in a new canister with a controlled rapid release valve. All you have to do is flip the switch and toss into a crowd of soldiers. The grenade will release the powder in a fine, but thick cloud."

Johnson walked over to another table and started explaining the contents of it. "Over here are your throwing spatulas. They've also been re-cast in the lighter material. You probably notice all the slots on your armor. Those slots, except for the clamp on the back, are for the throwing spatulas. The clamp on the back is designed to hold your combat spatula until you grab onto it, then the magnetic field is dispersed. That clamp can also carry a portable griddle. This over here is your rucksack of ingredients. We've included all the raw materials you need. Finally, here's your griddle. It may be small, at about 18"x12", but it's quick to heat up, being propane."

"Wow, you really outdid yourself with this. Are you sure I'll need all of this?" Ukyo queried.

"Well, obviously you'll get specialized equipment depending on whatever missions you get deployed on, but this is your basic armament. Well, if you wanna go on out to the training course to practice with your equipment, go ahead."

Ukyo started to head out the door, nearly running into Mousse in the process.

Johnson noticed Mousse walk in, wearing his traditional deep-sleeved robe. He always wonders what sort of stuff he hides up those sleeves of his, but he quickly dismisses the thought, remembering why Mousse is here. "Ah Mousse, could you come over here?"

Mousse walked over to Johnson, looked around, and puzzled, asked "Where's my armor?"

"Ah, well that's why I wanted to see you. We had a little trouble making your armor to match your needs. You see, having armor with sleeves like those" he indicated the sleeves on Mousse's robes "kinda defeat the purpose of having armor. One stray projectile or rocket up the sleeve, and you've lost an arm. Instead, we're outfitting you with a specialized flak jacket to protect whatever it can. Basically, your center torso, and your upper arms. We also felt it was necessary to give you this."

At this, Johnson indicated a weird looking device with blades on it. "This is your new weapon: The Revolver Stake. In its current state, it's either a really powerful blade, or a medium range rifle. Flip the blades up like this" Johnson picked up the weapon and flipped the blades up; Mousse notices Johnson is wearing it like a glove "and it enters a claw mode. It's this form that makes the Stake so powerful. If you can get close enough, you stab the target like this" Johnson stabs the gauntlet into a nearby training dummy "and you shoot the target, and fall back, and poof, instant dead soldier."

Johnson unburies the blades from the target, takes off the Stake, and hands it to Mousse. "These Nod soldiers are unforgiving, plus you never know when Nod will throw something at you that is resistant to shuriken and whatever else you hide up your sleeves. It's always good to have something to fall back on. Well, that's all there is really if you want to head on out to the training field and practice with it."

-/0\-

Present Day

Haverson let out a sigh of relief, having just finished sending out the meeting notifications. Jordon looks at him and says "You're doing the right thing. Everyone here have a right to know what's going on."

Haverson looked at Jordon. "Yeah, you're right, anyways, 4 days to the meeting. Let's start briefing Nabiki's team on their mission."

With that, Haverson and Jordon started heading for the briefing room. Coincidentally, Nabiki, Mousse, and Ukyo were heading for the briefing room as well. They both arrived within 5 minutes of each other.

"Oh Nabiki, we didn't really tell you the meeting time. We were about to call you down. Oh well, you're here now, and that's what matters. Your next mission is going to be in Washington D.C. again, only this time we're going to clear Nod out of the White House. Your success at the Pentagon, and helping coordinate the attack at Langley make you perfect for the job. Here's a map of the area with Nod structures shown." At this, Haverson pulled up an aerial satellite image of the White House area. He pointed to the targets as he introduced them.

"Nod has a staging area near the White House here. We can't get our MCV into the area until that base is taken down. That's the first objective: Eliminate the anti-air defenses and signal for a Firehawk strike on the base. Once that's done, we can insert an MCV and more forces to the area. Quickly establish your base. Once that's done, there's a cluster of Power Plants to the east of the main base whose purpose is yet unknown, but we suspect their true purpose will reveal themselves once you destroy the staging base and make our presence known. To the west of the base is a Secret Shrine that should be taken out. Intel has the Nod Secret Shrine as the storehouse for Nod's stealth weaponry. Without it, they won't deploy any such tech to the field. After both side posts are destroyed, move in and destroy the White House base. Be careful though, there's a strange structure in the base whose purpose is yet unknown. It's this structure with the 4 towers. You have been granted access to the Predator Main Battle Tank from the War Factory. Good luck, the transports are waiting outside."

And then the strike team of Nabiki, Ukyo, and Mousse left the room to board the transports. Jordon looked at Haverson. "Sir, are you sure those two are going to be ok? We haven't seen them fight, but from the looks of their loadout, their more suited for a support role instead of a strike role. Then again, it'll be interesting to see them fight."

Haverson responded. "Yes it will. We should probably get to the command center and watch the battle unfold. From there we can also help Nabiki by coordinating special strikes on the base."

So Haverson and Jordon left the briefing room to get up to the command center.

-/0\-

15 minutes later onboard one of the Ox transports

"Ukyo, you're going to have to paint the base for the Firehawks once Mousse takes out the defenses. We've already instructed him to take out the controlling hub to efficiently destroy the AA defense clusters. For that purpose, we're issuing this special smoke grenade for you. It issues a blue smoke that will guide the Firehawks to the base. It also has a homing beacon to guide the bombs once their deployed. You only get one of these, as Command has requested only one Firehawk strike for the mission. Don't miss."

-/0\-

The Ox transports took off, having delivered their important cargo. The hum of the engines fading into the distance signals the start of the mission. At once, Mousse runs forward, approaching a crowd of Militants. He jumps in the air, and from somewhere deep in his sleeves, he throws a cluster of shuriken into the group, some impaling into the skulls of the soldiers. The enemy squad crumples to the ground.

Meanwhile, Ukyo starts pulling out her griddle, she squats down, ignites the burner, and…

-/0\-

Haverson looks on in astonishment at the sight he's seeing in front of him.

"Is she…going to make lunch for the enemy?"

-/0\-

Ukyo finishes whipping up a batch of her famous okonomiyaki. "Get your okonomiyaki right here for a nominal price."

The militants, wanting to know what it is, puts down their weapons and head on over wanting some. "So…this isn't poisoned…is it?"

"Now why would I poison somebody? That'd break my reputation as a chef. That'll be 5 dollars each."

At that, the militants walk away in disgust, but in doing so, they failed to notice the okonomiyaki chef pulling out her throwing spatulas. 5 seconds later, all 10 militants are lying on the ground dead, spatulas sticking out of their backs.

"That was too easy. I'll hold onto the food for when the troops arrive with the MCV." Ukyo then places the okonomiyaki into a small container, caps it, and stows her griddle.

Mousse then proceeds to take out the defense hubs. 3 minutes and 4 hubs later, Mousse gives the all-clear signal to Ukyo, who then primes the signal charge, and chucks it into the middle of the Nod base. Both martial artists retreat as the roar of Firehawk engines is heard. 30 seconds later, the entire Nod base is aflame. 5 minutes later, a large vehicle with a mounted crane finishes moving into the area and begins to unfold. Nabiki climbs out of the cab, even as the vehicle unfolds into a building.

"Interesting technology behind the Mobile Construction Vehicle, isn't it? One minute it's a vehicle, the next a construction yard building up a base." She turns to the construction crews. "Ok, we're going to need to get a Crane built, then a power plant from the Yard, and a Refinery at the crane. After those are done and deployed, build another power plant at the yard, then build a Command Post."

"Yes ma'am" replied the construction crew.

About 15 minutes later, Nabiki is giving her first Command Post a good run for its money, exploring all the systems and getting acquainted with her very own command crew.

She then starts to go over the plan with Ukyo and Mousse. "Ok people, this is the big plan. Right now, the base is gearing up to repel the occasional attack run. What I need you to do is start moving on the side outposts that Nod's set up. They know we're in the area; however they don't know how big the force that we will send their way is. They're expecting tanks and APC's and rockets flying and stuff blowing up all around them. That last part is true. There's a Nod Secret Shrine to the west of the main base. Mousse, you're going to strike that small outpost. To the east of the main base is a cluster of power plants. Ukyo, if you take those out, base power will go down, and we will have a slightly easier time assaulting the base. I will get a frontal assault force put together. With that group, we will attack the base from all sides and take them down. We move in five minutes."

"Ma'am. War Factory is online, Armory online, and infantry are moving into the surrounding structures. One sniper team and 2 rocket soldier teams to a building, right?"

"You got it. In the meantime, get base defenses deployed around the base to take out the forces that somehow will get past the garrisons. You two, get going. Now that we have defenses, we need to take down the base ASAP."

Ukyo and Mousse then leave the Command Post. Walking by the War Factory as a treaded vehicle rolls out of the assembly bay. They then part company here. Ukyo moves alongside the War Factory, heading east. Mousse heads toward the Barracks to the west.

-/0\-

Nabiki gets off the line with Haverson, having explained the plan to him. She then looks over at her command crew. "Go ahead and get 9 more Predators constructed, as well as 10 APC's. Also, 5 Riflemen squads and 5 Missile trooper squads to go with those APC's.

"Yes ma'am. Queues aligned and processing."

-/0\-

Ukyo continues to advance on the enemy power plant cluster, when a gunshot rings out. The cement in front of her generates a dust cloud from a bullet impact. She quickly ducks behind cover. She radios back to command. "Command, there are a few garrisons protecting the power plant, I can't get closer. Please send an APC over to provide cover."

Nabiki responds "Copy that Ukyo, one APC coming up…ETA 2 minutes."

-/0\-

Mousse walks past a strange dome-shaped structure with a smokestack. His radio beeps. "Mousse, hold your position there, I'm sending up an engineer to capture that Tiberium Silo."

-/0\-

Nabiki continues to issue commands to her charges for various orders. "Hold production of the Predators and build two APC's. Halt soldier training and get an Engineer dispatched with one of the APC's to that Silo. I need the funds stored within."

All throughout the base, the main assault force continues to prepare. All soldier squads except 2 Missile squads are ready to go. 9 Predators have been built already, and the last one is 75 complete. An APC is dispatched heading toward Ukyo's position. Another APC is fresh out of the production bay at the War Factory. An Engineer is seen boarding the second APC, and then heading up the west side of the engagement area.

-/0\-

The low din of the APC's engine is a sign of savior for Ukyo, knowing that her cover has arrived. She pulls out a few of her flour bomb grenades and gets them ready, knowing that the building will fill up with the caustic combination of flour and pepper in a relatively short amount of time. She boards the APC, and as the APC comes under fire, she chucks one grenade, primed, out of the firing slit in the troop bay at one of the garrisons. In 30 seconds, the Militants are falling out of the building in their quest for fresh air. They impact on the ground with a sickening thud.

5 minutes later, all of the buildings are cleared of Nod troops, and Ukyo disembarks from the APC, resuming her trek to the power plants. The APC drives back to base for repairs and to join up with the assault force.

-/0\-

On the west side of the map, Mousse is relieved of his guard post, the Engineer having captured the Silo, and base defenses being erected around it for protection. Mousse continues north, but doesn't have very far to go before he comes on a strange pyramid structure that is the Secret Shrine. He quietly approaches the structure, and enters it. Immediately, he thinks that Nod has an obsession with the color red, considering that their primary color is red inside and outside a structure, as well as on their unit's armor. He goes door to door seeking the object of his desire: the Master Control Terminal, which was explained to him as being the most obvious piece of wall-mounted technology that controls all building operations. Without it, it's nothing but a shell of its former glory.

As Mousse explores from room to room looking for the MCT, he comes upon a few rooms that are storing some technology. Not wanting to pass up on good equipment, Mousse decides to liberate the tech. With a flash of his robe's sleeves, the tech is gone, having been stored in some infinitely large pocket in his sleeves. He even managed to get blueprints and operating manuals for some of the gear stolen. At last, in the deepest basement level of the Shrine, Mousse finds the MCT.

'They were right, it is pretty obvious' Mousse couldn't help but think. He quickly gets to work on the terminal, placing one of his hidden explosives on the terminal. Not wanting to waste an explosive, he plants another one for good measure. He sets the timer for 30 seconds on both, and arms both. Mousse quickly makes his way back up to the entrance level, and makes it outside before…

-/0\-

Nabiki witnesses Mousse going into the structure, and 5 minutes later, running back out in a hurry. Behind him the Secret Shrine disappears in a fireball.

She decides to update Haverson on the mission status.

-/0\-

Ukyo approaches the power plant cluster, and proceeds to systematically enter each one and sabotage the machinery inside. She enters each one and sticks some of her special noodles in each of the generators, gumming up the works and overloading the drive units. She does this to each, then quickly retreats from the area. 10 seconds after getting to the safety of a nearby structure, a massive explosion is heard, and she hears glass shattering above her. Figuring she should wait in the cover of the overhang, she waits out the shower of glass.

-/0\-

Mousse evacuates from the Hand of Nod, having planted more explosives on its MCT. 5 seconds after getting out and behind a conveniently placed boulder, the HoN is engulfed in a fireball, the explosives detonating at the MCT, triggering some sort of self-destruct.

Satisfied, he moves into position at the western entrance to the base, and hunkering down to wait for the steady stream of Nod soldiers, and to wait for the go-code.

-/0\-

Ukyo moves out from the cover of the overhang, the glass shower having been over for 30 seconds now.

She also moves into position and hunkers down, unlimbering her griddle and setting it up.

-/0\-

Back at base, the main assault force is almost ready. The infantry are loading up into the APC's even after the last one leaves the Factory's production bay. Soon, the Predators and APC's line up at the north side of the base, and begin to advance on the southern entrance to the Nod base.

-/0\-

At the command post, Nabiki watches as her master plan unfolds and quickly reaches its climax. Ukyo successfully sabotaged the power plant cluster, and Mousse successfully took out the Shrine and the Hand of Nod to the east. She noticed something strange on her radar though. The Nod base disappeared, leaving the strange towers throughout the region visible. She initiates a scan, and discovers that they're putting out a disruption field that's making the base invisible.

"Ukyo, Mousse, be advised: the Nod base has been cloaked. You need to take out the Disruption Towers . They're the only structure still visible."

-/0\-

Mousse pulls out his Revolver Stake, finally getting a chance to use it. He puts it on, takes aim at one of the still-visible towers, and fires it, only to have the shots impact on something that's not even visible.

Ukyo has a brilliant idea herself. She chucks a few of her flour grenades into the base area, and as they release their contents, the flour sticks to the surrounding structures, making them visible.

-/0\-

Nabiki realizes that the Pitbull ATV has a sensor module that can cut through the disruption field. She orders a couple for the forward assault squad and dispatches them 15 seconds later.

4 minutes later, all the forces are in position. She gives the command.

"All forces, move in and attack. APC's, cover the Pitbulls. They are vital to the success of the mission until the Disruption Towers are destroyed."

-/0\-

At the Nod base, everything begins to quake slightly as 12 vehicles roll through the base, the APC's covering the fragile ATV's, and the Predators focusing their fire on the Disrupter Towers . One by one, the towers fall, and the disruption field fades, revealing the Nod base. The Pitbulls back off, and Ukyo and Mousse also move in to help take down the base.

-/0\-

5 minutes later, Nabiki gets on the line with Haverson

"Good job Nabiki, a flawless execution yet again. Once that's over, the Nod presence in the Eastern United States Blue Zone will be nix. Ox transports are inbound to pick up your team. You can leave the base now. Command's requested that that particular base remain on sight. The War Factory will construct a new MCV and it will move to the old Nod base and take up a defensive position at the White House. Good work out there."

At this, 3 Ox transports are heard, 1 of them begins its descent, and the other two move to pick up Mousse and Ukyo.

Nabiki boards her transport, bidding her command crew farewell.

-/0\--/0\-

Phew, this is so far my biggest chapter...all the others are around 2500 words each, this one is topping out at 4500.

Well, that's the end of Act 1 technically, the next chapter will be a record of the meeting that happened, as well as a couple more tech entries.

After that, the crew heads to Africa for Act 2.


	6. Act 1 Epilogue

Command and Ranma, Act 1 Epilogue

Disclaimer: I think on chapter 6, you know what goes here.

Author Notes:

Well, Act 1 is complete, so you're asking why this is here. Well this is simple: closure. The closure on the questions that the 2047 crew has regarding the Nerima Wrecking Crew. Closure on the question of when the curses reveal themselves. Closure on Act 1, and the curtain rising on Act 2.

Some issues were raised about the previous chapters, including the fact that Tokyo isn't a Red Zone, but rather a Blue Zone. I admit at the time I didn't know that, and it would be kinda hard to adjust that. So accept that it's staying. Also, something about the first chapter making someone gag, and my confusing your and you're. Rewrites of the first 5 chapters will happen at a later date. Accept that the errors will stay for a while. Your continued constructive criticism, and occasional error checks are what help keep this story going on the right path. Also, it was noted that I may have spelled okonomiyaki wrong; got news for ya, got it from the Ukyo Wikipedia page. Finally, it was noted again that I had Ranma and company walking around the base so soon after having them chucked in the brig. If Ranma was gonna escape and cause mayhem, he was free to do it at anytime. So without further ado, the tech briefings for this chapter over the Zone Troopers, and the Predator MBT.

GDI Zone Troopers are elite heavy infantry with exceptional mobility, armour, and enough firepower to take out enemy targets ranging from infantry to light vehicles. Equipped with Power Armour, Rail Guns, and Jump Jets that can boost them over obstacles or across rivers, Zone Troopers do the heavy lifting for the GDI infantry

Weapons of the World 2047: GDI Main Battle Tank – MBT-6 Predator

Equipped with a 150mm cannon, this 65 ton tank packs an armour-piercing punch against any vehicle or structure. It's also fast and quite maneuverable for a large armoured vehicle. Devastating in numbers, Predator tanks can rip through enemy encampments quickly, as well as crush infantry under their tracks. They have excellent armour, but are vulnerable to armour-piercing rocket and cannon attacks.

Yes, that's a way of spelling armor btw.

-/0\--/0\-

The following is a record of the meeting on July 29, 2047, at the GDI Main Command Base in Langely, VA, B-2. This record is classified to Level Phi. Unauthorized access by non-GDI command personnel is punishable by 15 to life or execution.

11:50 Meeting record start

11:55 Ukyo, Mousse, Nabiki, Tech Sergeant Johnson enter the briefing room

11:56 Rest of Nerima Wrecking Crew (NWC) arrive

11:57 Tech crew, Dr. Mort, senior medical staff arrive in briefing room

11:58 Command crew arrive

11:59 General Jack Granger arrives

12:00 meeting in session; dossiers distributed

12:01 summary of meeting is given:

-Personnel data given on NWC

-Debrief Operation B-2

-Brief Operation in African yellow zone

12:02 Cologne is asked to explain how the NWC came together

12:35 Haverson starts explaining each NWC member's strengths and combat training

-Kasumi: strength: exceptional cook; combat training: self-defense

-Nabiki: strength: exceptional command skills; combat training: pistol self-defense

-Akane: strength: brutality; combat training: special, Linear Grenade Launcher

-Shampoo: strength: mobility, power; combat training: special

-Ryouga: strength: depression-based skills; combat training: special; GPS usage

-Ranma: strength: speed, combat foresight; combat training: special, Commando

-Ukyo: strength: okonomiyaki chef; combat training: special

-Mousse: strength: hidden weaponry; combat training: special, Revolver Stake

- Cologne : strength: Chinese Matriarch, knowledge of the Nerima Wrecking Crew; combat training: special, exemption from battlefield service

12:49 Explanation of Jusenkyo and the curses present in the room; demonstrations followed

1:00 debriefing of Act 1; summary below

-On July 15th, at daybreak, the Ion Cannon was fired on a Nod facility; a few minutes later, a GDI patrol found the NWC; combat ensued, with 3 men losing consciousness, and another man's ceramic-core body armor shattering; the attackers were knocked unconscious, and the rest surrendered. They were brought back to base, and a decision was reached by Granger to have Haverson take charge of the group. Seeing that they didn't really mean any harm, in the fact that the 3 unconscious soldiers showed no signs of bruising or trauma, and the 4th soldier only losing his armor, the NWC was brought up to the command deck to meet their commander and prepare for their first assignment

-On July 22nd, an urgent message arrived from the Pentagon stating that they were under attack from a nearby Nod outpost; Nabiki and Ryouga were dispatched, and the Nod attack was neutralized. Soon after, the outpost fell; Nabiki and Ryouga were extracted and returned to base.

-On July 23rd, the Langley AFB came under attack, and thus aircraft couldn't take off. Akane and Shampoo were dispatched to reclaim the airfield and neutralize the base located in the area. The airfield was successfully reclaimed, and the base was taken down in a rather vicious manner. The girls were subsequently told not to attack like that again unless otherwise given the order to do so.

-July 24th, GDI launched a strike on a Nod base in charge of reinforcements coming in through the Hampton Roads port. Ranma was deployed to take out 3 key positions. The first two positions came down with relative ease. During the third target strike, it was noted that Ranma changed behavior almost instantly and proceeded to shred the enemy base with invisible claws. He collapsed afterward and a medical team extracted him.

-July 25th, GDI launched another strike on two Nod bases near the White House in an attempt to reclaim the landmark. Nabiki, Ukyo, and Mousse were deployed to the area to take out the outpost to allow GDI base construction, and proceed to destroy two smaller outposts, and the main base. The operation went off unhinged, even reclaiming a Tiberium Silo in the area. This operation was the first successful deployment of the MBT-6 against Nod.

2:00 Granger begins briefing of the second major operation; summary follows:

-Depart from here 30 minutes after the meeting ends; equipment being loaded up on the Ox's as spoken;

-Move to Africa and establish forward operations base

-eliminate the Nod irrigation facility in Casabad

-eliminate the Nod shipping port at Alexandria

-eliminate the Nod nuclear facility at Cairo

3:00 Meeting concluded

-/0\-

Everyone filed out of the meeting room, the Nerima crew went to their quarters to get their stuff and went to their transports. As they left the Barracks with their bags in hand, they noticed a strange Ox Vehicle Lifter loading up an MCV on a special sling mounted underneath. Nabiki asked the tech what that aircraft was.

"That is the OA-39 Heavy Lifter, retired to back-line work after the Second Tiberium War. We don't use it much anymore on the battlefield, but we shielded the engines, and now use it for heavy lifting outside the engagement zones. This is how we get MCV's to the different sites."

As Nabiki boarded an Ox transport with Kasumi and the rest of the command crew, the OA-39, which Nabiki dubbed the Carryall in her head, lifted off, heading to the next mission site.

The whine of the Ox's engines then filled the air, as the fan-jets spun up and ejected more and more thrust until they started lifting off of the ground. They then started heading to the east, toward Africa.

-/0\--/0\-

There you have it...it wasn't much, but it's better than having 3 times the amount of work actually filling out the meeting word by word...so I did it in minute format.

Submit ideas on who should go on each mission...remember Nabiki is command, and Kasumi is a non-combatant, or non-com.


	7. Act 2 Prologue, Part 1

Command and Ranma, Act 2 Prologue

Author Notes:

No disclaimer from here on out…I figure after about 5 chapters it'd be nagging and getting old real quick.

Normally, I'd have skipped this chapter however it was brought to my attention that I should include a "social time" with the characters. So…this chapter is more along the lines of filler, the dreaded filler that haunts long-running series like Naruto and such.

Also, about suggesting that I go back and fix the earlier chapters for spelling, and some content, later; It's on the list, so stop complaining and whining like two year olds. It get's old REAL fast.

Also, Nodoka's being clipped…not knowing much about a character ruins the ride. She will be removed from the first chapter when I go back to make corrections

Now for the tech briefings

GDI Engineer

GDI Combat Engineers are able to capture enemy buildings and repair structures (including bridges and base buildings). Deploy an Engineer into an enemy base structure in order to capture it – or send an Engineer into a damaged building to fix it back up again. Damaged bridges can be repaired by deploying an Engineer into the bridge auto-repair gatehouses.

Engineer Combat Primer Excerpt

-As a Combat Engineer, a few cardinal rules should be kept in mind at all times:

1. Never act alone in hostile territory. Your standard issue body armour is ineffective against most modern weapons.

2. You are equipped with a standard GD45 sidearm. Only use it as a last resort as it will not penetrate most modern body armour.

3. Once you gain access to an enemy structure, be sure to disable the Central Computer Terminal immediately and install your override program to connect the structure to the nearest Command Post.

4. When entering a damaged structure, be sure to initiate damage control programs for immediate results. Once the automation has kicked in, you will be clear to commence more extensive repairs.

5. Keep your hard-hat on at all times.

Mobile Construction Vehicle

Mobile Construction Vehicles, or MCVs, are deployed to all major theaters to serve as the foundation for a Forward Operating Base. The MCV is capable of rolling over any relatively clear terrain. It is not equipped for self-defense. When an MCV reaches its destination, it can immediately unpack into a Construction Yard capable of building production structures, a Tiberium Refinery, and other elements needed for a forward base. The Construction Yard can be packed up into the MCV at any time, although it is advised when the base it supports is no longer being used.

-/0\--/0\-

Nabiki looked out of the Ox's crew cabin out onto a desert of green. "Wow…is this…?"

Haverson laughed a little and replied "Nah, this is the African Red Zone. Egypt 's still 15 minutes out. We're still calibrating our computer systems for operation in the yellow zone if you wanna help. Nothing in the book says 12 hands can't calibrate a computer system."

With that, Nabiki grabbed a spot at a terminal and started assisting in the calibration. On board another transport, as the dust settles in the cabin, Ranma finds himself yet again, with his face planted into the floor so deep that he could turn into a mole. He manages to pry his head out of the ground, as Akane is standing over him with a mallet. "Don't EVER look at me like that AGAIN!!!" Everyone else looks away in disgust at this display.

15 minutes later, the Ox's begin their descent as they approach the LZ. They touch down on what appears to be an abandoned airfield. The personnel disembark, and the Carryall's docking clamps release the MCV cargo. A couple more Carryall's arrive with a large vehicle mounted on four treads. Twin barrels are seen on the top. Haverson walks over to Nabiki, who's accessing the EVA database on the strange vehicle.

"That vehicle isn't going to be in the database. It just rolled off the production line. You are looking at the HAV-9 Series 3 Mammoth Tank. The four treads it's mounted on can pivot up and down, providing increased handling on hilly terrain. It features the classic armament of twin armor piercing cannons, and twin rocket pods. It's one heck of a beast, able to take quite a beating before submitting to defeat. The factories were thinking of mounting a machine gun on it for anti-infantry protection, but Command decided against such an action. Otherwise, it's a very capable machine. Word has it that the Tech Department's been working on a new kind of cannon for the Predator and the Mammoth. You'll have to check in the Tech Lab once we can build a field unit."

As this is going on, the construction crews are inputting a code into the MCV computer. After this, the MCV begins to unpack, having accepted the code. The Crane portion unlocks and rolls off of the packed bay module, and the bay begins to unfold and increase in size. The crane moves into position, and deploys the locking mechanism to keep it from moving too far. The bay also locks down, ending the unpacking sequence. Construction crews are hard at work building a secondary crane to help establish the base faster. Haverson begins barking orders at the crews. "All right listen carefully, after the crane is deployed, get a second crane constructed here at the Yard. In the meantime, get a power plant built at the first crane. After the first power plant is deployed, get a barracks constructed. Once the second crane is built, deploy it and have it work on a Refinery. From the yard, build another power plant. After the Barracks is deployed, begin work on the Armory. After the refinery is deployed, build a Command post at the second crane. Continue to build up the power grid using the Yard, and get base defenses established on the perimeter. I want all three Tiberium fields utilized and funding our field operation."

As soon as the Barracks is deployed, Ranma and company move right in. They are met by the officer in charge. "Guys, I hate to break it to you, but since space is limited, we had to pair everybody up. Squads obviously work together, but the commandos had to be paired up in the quarters. The living arrangements are as follows."

As he read off the names, the group is shocked as to who they are sleeping with.

Kasumi and Nabiki. Shampoo and Cologne . Akane and Ukyo. Ranma and Ryouga.

The third and fourth pairings demanded that their living arrangements get adjusted. The officer refused. "Sorry, orders came from the top. No co-ed living arrangements."

Walking off in a huff, the group heads to their rooms, discovering that their equipment has already been brought down by the tech crews. Ranma jokingly examined Ryouga's suit and asks if Ryouga uses the GPS unit. Ryouga then gets into a fight with Ranma.

Akane gets to her room with Ukyo, and faces the chef. "I'm warning you…don't be cooking while I'm sleeping, or you're getting my size 5 hammer up yours." Ukyo responds with "Well you better not be cooking period or you're getting one of my flour grenades up yours. But that's if you don't get me to taste your cooking, otherwise my barfs joining that grenade."

Cologne has other things on her mind, such as teaching Ryouga and Ranma some new techniques. 'Oh yeah, now that things are getting more intense, Ryouga and Ranma need to learn some ki projection techniques for sure. I will need to teach them a technique each that works off of their chief emotions though, otherwise the plan will backfire.'

Shampoo's just a little agitated that she didn't get a room with Ranma though. Nabiki though, is happy with her arrangement, having Kasumi as a roommate. 'I can at least count on Kasumi to keep me relaxed and going. Some of those room arrangements could turn into trouble for me.

With that, the gang decides to go to sleep.

-/0\-

Ranma awakens startled. 'Man, what a freaky dream. Oh well, I can't get back to sleep like this. Time to raid the kitchen.'

Ranma leaves his room, after getting dressed, and without waking Ryouga. He arrives at the cafeteria to find Kasumi sitting at one of the tables. She spots him and waves him over, pouring a cup of tea for him. "You couldn't sleep either Kasumi?"

"No Ranma. I had one of the freakiest dreams. What about you?"

"Wait, you had a freaky dream too?" Did it involve a beam of light and a massive explosion?" Ramna queried.

Kasumi looked at ceiling, like she was trying to remember something, looks down at Ranma, and says "Yes, actually, that was exactly it."

-/0\-

30 minutes ago

"Huh…where am I?" Ranma queries. He looks around, and sees that he's in space, above the Earth. All of a sudden, he sees a beam of light striking the planet below, and a massive explosion of green. "What the…" It is at this point that Ranma wakes up

-/0\-

"What do you think it means Ranma? Does it mean that something bad is going to happen soon or is it something that has to be stopped somehow to avoid catastrophe?"

Ranma looks back at Kasumi, and replies. "Maybe we need to talk with Nabiki about it. She knows more about what's going on because she has contacts already."

With that, Ranma and Kasumi finish drinking their tea, and consume the sweets that were on the tray with the tea pot.

-/0\-

Ukyo is in her quarters with Akane, both are standing next to a toaster. "Ok Akane, for the billionth time now, this dial here controls how long the bread will be in the toaster. It works just like a stereo volume control. You turn it clockwise to increase the time in the toaster, and you turn it counter-clockwise to decrease the amount of time. You think you can get it right THIS TIME? I'm almost out of bread."

"Um…yeah, I think I got it." Akane said. The words "I doubt it" are barely heard under Ukyo's breath.

With that, Akane puts the bread in the toaster, and pushes the plunger down after setting the dial. 3 minutes later, the toast pops up, smoking and slightly burnt. Ukyo offers words of kindness. "Well this pair IS better than the last 49. If you keep this up, maybe we will have you doing stuff that only gets put into an oven." 'Hopefully she can't screw that up, but knowing her, she finds a way somehow.' Ukyo thought.

-/0\-

Cologne is at the training course, trying to book it for her and Ryouga's training session. "Look, I need to book the human analogues and the practice range for training. It's very important."

"Ma'am, I'm sure it's very important, but we just can't book the field for ANYBODY."

"Boy, you don't know who you're messing with. I am the Chinese Amazonian Matriarch. I got 300 years on you; you can't hope to deter me from my goal." With that, Cologne pokes the concrete bunker that the soldier is in. A few seconds later, the bunker crumbles into a million pieces.

"Wha…how…how did that happen? This was a steel reinforced concrete bunker. It's rated against anti-armor tank shells and everything…"

"I told you sonny…I got 300 years on you. I know how to do things you think are impossible. I merely used the Bakusai Tenketsu, or the Breaking Point. Since this bunker is made out of ground up rocks, the Bakusai will work flawlessly. Same went for the steel apparently, being refined iron ore, which ALSO comes out of the ground."

At that, the attendant quickly scribbles something down on the clipboard in front of him. "You're booked tomorrow at 3 P.M. Have a nice day." At this, the attendant fainted.

-/0\-

Ranma is lying awake in his bed, when he hears the door open. He sits up straight and calls out. "Who's there?"

A staff head is seen poking up over the edge of the bed. "Oh…it's just you. What do you want you old hag?"

The staff somehow finds Ranma's head, and whacks him on the back. "Respect your elder's boy. I booked the training field for tomorrow at 3 P.M. There's something I got to teach you. It's based on the emotion of confidence, and it will be able to assist you in the battles to come. If you're interested, then meet on the training grounds tomorrow at 2:55 P.M."

"Yeah yeah, are you done yet? I wanna get back to sleep. My energies drained right now from all the heavy lifting that those damn construction crews are having me doing."

At this, Cologne 's staff manages to find Ranma's head again, the phrase "RESPECT YOUR ELDERS" is heard, and Cologne leaves.

-/0\-

Nabiki is in the Command Post with Haverson, the calibration almost done now. They are coordinating with the tech crews above establishing an uplink with the primary EVA control center so that they can conduct operations in Egypt . "Commander, can I ask you a personal question over some ice cream later?"

"Sure Lieutenant. We can do that tomorrow at around noon if you want. In the meantime, let's focus on finishing this so that we aren't messing with it later."

The typing resumes from both terminals. Soon after, a few beeps are heard, and a computerized voice comes on. "Electronic Video Agent uplink established and secured. Beginning update now. …Update complete, welcome back commander. The state of the world is currently 'High.' The Brotherhood is currently building up their forces in the region. You can expect some heavy resistance during the operation. It is recommended that you layer the base defenses for this base to successfully repel Nod attacks. The recommended layout is two Guardian turrets in-between every Watchtower. Behind this line should be a line of anti-air turrets a few meters behind the Watchtowers. The AA batteries should be lined up with the Watchtowers. The greatest threat of Nod assault will be from the east. It is recommended that you start the defense line there."

Haverson ponders over the data, and opens a line with the construction yard. "All right listen up. I'm requesting that the construction cranes get to work on Watchtowers and Guardians. The yard should be working on power plants to power the base defenses. I'm sending down details of the defense line shortly. Deploy power plants around the base, but wait on deploying base defenses until you get the diagram of deployment." Haverson closes the comm line and looks at Nabiki. "Lieutenant, if you could please get a diagram drawn up and sent down to the ConYard, that'd be great."

With this, Haverson sits back down at his terminal and starts typing out a message to Granger updating him on the base status. Nabiki pulls out her pad and stylus and starts tapping away at it, painting recommended base defense locations on the screen in front of her.

-/0\-

The next day, Nabiki was hanging around the ConYard, examining the base defenses that were going up today.

"This here is the Watchtower anti-infantry base defense. Basically, it's a tower with twin automatic machine rail guns and a sensor array to detect stealthed units. It doesn't do much against vehicles, but three of these in a line will mow down infantry like a hot knife through butter. Over here is the Guardian anti-vehicle turret. It's essentially a stationary howitzer with a forward shield. One of these can handle light to medium vehicles, but should be deployed in pairs for maximum effectiveness. Finally, over here is the Anti-Air battery. Twin 30mm Gatling guns and an advanced tracking array allow it to quickly dispatch enemy aircraft. The sensor array can detect stealthed units, but the gun is useless against ground aircraft, which is why we deploy it behind a ground defense line."

Nabiki continues to examine the defenses, but isn't satisfied. "So are we authorized to deploy walls, because turrets alone won't stop a mass enemy assault."

The crewman walks off to retrieve the foreman of the Yard. He comes back with someone 5 minutes later. "I'm Foreman Dansworth. You wanted to know something about the defense of the base?"

"Yeah, I'm recommending that we erect walls of some kind to keep the enemy forces on the outside of the wall."

"Well, I can get on the line with Command, but until they clear it, forward bases can't build walls really. Only bases of strategic importance can erect walls on the perimeter."

-/0\-

Ranma arrives on the training field, ready to run through his morning kata. As he is running through the fluid-like motions of kicks and jabs, Akane arrives to also do her morning kata. Akane greets Ranma with a quick "Morning" and starts to pull out a pallet of cinder blocks. She starts to put on a pair of special gloves and readies a stack of 3 cinder blocks.

"You aren't going to punch through all of that, are you?"

"Oh, of course. The armory finished working on a new pair of gloves for my combat suit, and they requested that I make sure they work. Basically, they have a sonic amplifier where the fist would hit something, and the back of the hand is armored as well."

With that, she brings her fist down square in the middle of the stack, and all of the cinder blocks disintegrate. "The theory is that with this glove, that I can replicate the results of Ryouga's Bakusai Tenketsu, only with a fist instead of a finger."

"Goodie, another thing you can beat the crap outta me with." Ranma replies.

"And don't you forget it either." Akane said, holding her fist up to Ranma in the process.

-/0\-

Akane wasn't the only person receiving new equipment for the new theater of operation. Shampoo was also in getting a refit for her armor.

"Ok then, we're equipping you with a new kind of close-range weapon. Your bonbori are good against structures and large group of infantry, but we also saw you move on the battlefield, and you move with a fluid grace that is deserving of a sword. We developed this for you." Johnson indicated at the item on the table. Shampoo picked up the item, which was a sheathed sword. She removed the sword, and discovered that it was heavier than the average blade.

"What up with sword? It heavier than normal blade" Shampoo queried.

'Have you ever considered English lessons?' Johnson kept to himself. "It's heavier than normal because it's a Progressive Katana. It has a sonic emitter in the blade. So even if the blade looks like it can't even slice butter, once you activate the sonic emitter, it vibrates at the atomic level, making the blade capable of cutting solid steel even. Although if the blade's dull, it will have trouble cutting metal."

Shampoo then left for the training field, stopping by the Yard to pick up some steel plating.

-/0\-

Akane finished with her stack of cinder blocks in no time. Ranma already went to get some breakfast, and she was about to do the same, when she noticed Shampoo coming onto the practice field, set up some steel plates, and went off to get the usual human composite targets. Shampoo finished setting them up, and moved to the start of the course. Akane watched carefully as Shampoo got on the ready, and as she drew a sword out of a sheath, the starting bell rang out. Akane watched in awe as Shampoo twisted and twirled through the course, the sword now ringing out as it sliced through the wooden human analogues and the steel plating and the cinder towers like they weren't even there at all. Shampoo managed to defeat all the targets without stopping and reached the end of the course in 45 seconds. The ringing then stopped and Shampoo sheathed her sword. Even from where Akane was standing, she swore she heard Shampoo name her sword Sanryu.

-/0\-

Noon

Nabiki is waiting in the base restaurant for Haverson to arrive, having already eaten her first dish of ice cream, and the dish cleared away. Haverson walks in, spots Nabiki and heads over to her table. He sits down and orders a dish of Vanilla ice cream. Nabiki orders another banana split.

"Ah, you already started without me. I hope you don't expect me to pay for however many dishes you order." Haverson started.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't do such a thing." Nabiki crosses her mental fingers as she says this. "Can we get some coffee over here please?"

The nearby waitress hurries into the kitchen to pass along the order.

"So what did you want to talk about Nabiki?"

"Ranma and Kasumi came to me discussing this strange dream they had..."

Kasumi begins to explain in depth what Ranma and Kasumi told her about their dream.

When Nabiki finishes, Haverson is still thinking about what was said.

"Hm, I don't really believe in such things, but could it be a premonition? I mean it clearly involves the Ion Cannon, and before 3 weeks ago, they didn't even know what all of this was. It couldn't have already happened, because we would have known about it. So that leaves either a really weird nightmare, or a premonition. If it was a nightmare, it would have involved them being at Ground Zero of wherever the blast occurred."

Nabiki and Haverson continue to toss ideas back and forth, before they settle on the premonition theory. Nabiki starts to get up. "Wait, where are you going Nabiki, you gotta pay for your half."

"Consider this a token of my gratitude."

'How is making me pay for the entire bill gratitude?' Haverson thought as he pulled out his service card to transfer 30 credits over for the ice cream and coffee to the restaurant.

-/0\--/0\-

I'm splitting this chapter into two parts because it's already at 10 pages. Enjoy in the meantime.

Preview: in the next chapter, Ranma and Ryouga learn new techniques: the Shi Shi Hokodan and the Moko Takabisha make their grand appearance, and the unit assignments for the first mission are revealed.


	8. Act 2 Prologue, Part 2

Command and Ranma, Act 2 Prologue Part Two

Author notes: Well, not much goes here for now. For now, the continuation of Act 2's prologue.

-/0\--/0\-

Cologne waits patiently on the training field, and as she waits for Ranma, she examines the field. She notices craters and slash marks all over the place. Also, Ukyo's on the field with her combat spatula only. Next thing she knows, Ukyo's waving her weapon of choice around, and the area in front of her starts segmenting.

-/0\-

10 minutes ago

Ukyo walks into the armory, awaiting the completion of her spatula's modification. She notices it, and Johnson indicates to pick it up. "You'll notice that your spatula is slightly heavier. With Nod's forces at an all-time high so far, we've decided to equip your weapon with a sonic generator. It will emit sonic energy along the path that you indicate by slashing your weapon through the air. With it I daresay you can even take out aircraft neatly and cleanly. If you want to try it out, head on up to the training field."

-/0\-

Ukyo calls out to deploy the clay pigeons. 3 launchers spring into action and start flinging the clay discs through the air. Ukyo slashes in their general direction, and as she does, the targets begin to split in half, as if cut by an imaginary blade. As Ukyo's doing this, Cologne swears that she can hear the spatula vibrating and screaming and ringing through the air. Cologne immediately senses a presence and swings her staff, only to stop short of clubbing Ranma into next week.

"If that's your way of saying hello, I'm leaving." Ranma spouted.

"I'm sorry future sun-in-law. I felt a presence, but even I can't tell who would be behind me. Anyways, are you ready to begin the training?" Cologne asked.

"You know it. Anything to make me stronger." Ranma replied.

"Are you confident that you will learn the new technique?" Cologne also asked

"Of course I have confidence." Ranma replied as well.

"Well that's good, because confidence is the key behind this new technique. What I am about to teach you is the Moko Takabisha, or Pride of the Fierce Tiger. This is important now, so pay attention. Focus on your confidence. Let it fill you, let it encompass your Ki, let it become your ki, and then focus that new confidence ki into a sphere, then launch it."

As Cologne is speaking, Ranma's focusing his ki like she is instructing. Soon a tiny sphere of golden energy is formed.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!!!" As Ranma calls out the name of the attack, he launches it at a human analogue. Unfortunantely, the sphere is so small, that it doesn't destroy the target, but rather creates a nicely shaped scorch mark. Cologne starts laughing at the feeble attack. "Ranma, I've seen dead people hit harder than that. You have to work on it, but the point is you're off to a good start. And for your information, I'm not dead, I'm nowhere near it."

Ranma's flustered a little at that last comment and Cologne leaves him to work on his technique.

-/0\-

Ukyo and Ryouga are on the observation deck, looking out on the vast landscape of green destruction. Ryouga's looking depressed as always, and Ukyo's at his side, looking lost in her thoughts.

"Ryouga, I was wondering. What would happen between us when all of this is over?"

Ryouga, still lost in his own thoughts, was snapped back to reality by the question. "Um, I never really thought about that Ukyo. I mean I feel something between us, but it seems Ranma and my need to defeat him always gets in the way. I…I just don't know what to do Ukyo,"

Ukyo grabs hold of his arm. "Well, why not give up on Ranma, and focus a little more on me." With that, Ukyo reaches and starts kissing Ryouga. Ryouga's a little shocked at first, but then gets lost in his feelings and returns the favor.

-/0\-

5 hours later, an exhausted Ranma looks proud of himself, creating a true Moko Takabisha five times in a row. The training field looks like a battle zone, ten targets being vaporized, five of them with large craters underneath. Ranma heads to the cafeteria to decimate the food supply. He catches sight of someone on the observation deck, and a closer look reveals two people hopelessly tangled. He heads inside and up to the observation deck to break up the pair. When he arrives, he's shocked to discover Ukyo and Ryouga are the hopelessly tangled pair. He backs out slowly so as not to startle them, he heads down to his quarters, and collapses, exhausted, onto his bed.

-/0\-

Akane decided to pay Ranma a visit in the training field, only to find out he isn't there anymore. She was so sure that he'd still be there practicing his technique. She heads back, only to find Ryouga and Ukyo tangled together, and no attempts to separate. She dons her gloves, and heads on up to hurt Ryouga.

She bursts out onto the observation deck, and both look up, then quickly try to break apart. "SO, TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANOTHER GIRL? I STILL HAVEN'T FORGIVEN YOU, YOU STUPID LITTLE PIG!!!"

Ryouga quickly tries to explain, but Akane's not listening. He dodges a punch, which sends a sonic shockwave through the railing, crumpling it into a useless pile of slag. She aims another punch at the ground, breaking the platform. She aims another punch at the ground underneath Ryouga, but he beats her there, launching tons of debris at her using his Bakusai Tenketsu. He uses this to make his getaway and escape danger. Akane's on the verge of tears at this point. Ukyo also takes this moment to step out, just in case Akane decides to come after her. A security camera captures the whole incident.

-/0\-

Haverson watches the whole scene develop. A plan formulates in his head. "Nabiki, I think Ryouga and Akane should be together on a mission."

Nabiki's a little shocked at this decision. "After seeing that, why do you want to team those two up? Akane just tried to kill Ryouga, and you want them together for a mission."

"I know that Nabiki, but it'll help them to cut the tension if they can work together. Besides, it's a worse idea to team her up with Ukyo at this point. I know that, and you know that. Besides, if you'll look carefully at the end, you'll notice a slight glimmer of light, like the kind off of a rain drop."

Nabiki rolls the footage to the end, and watches carefully. Sure enough, there's a tear rolling down Akane's cheek. "But how did you…?"

"Nabiki, a couple years ago I was married and I got a look into how a woman feels. 6 months later though, a Nod attack killed my wife. I was devastated, and vowed to be the one to command the mission that brings the end of Kane. I was put on a suicide watch and everything. 6 months ago, I got over it, and earned a command position. For a woman to cry, it means she regrets doing something that she just did. Akane regrets going after Ryouga like that. She realized what she did was…just too cruel. That's why; that's why I want them on a mission together."

Nabiki ponders this for a moment, and then adjusts her mission roster. "But that'll leave Ranma alone on the next mission. Maybe I can put Ukyo there, make it a trade-off between the research facility and the nuclear take-down missions."

"All right then, it's settled. Ranma and Ukyo are together for the first mission. Shampoo and Mousse for the second mission; Akane with Ryouga will take the last mission. You will deploy on the second and third missions to be at the Command Post commanding the mission."

-/0\-

Mousse is in the armory, he's expecting to retrieve his stolen tech from the White House mission so that he can train with it. Johnson comes over with a crate. "You stole some pretty good stuff here. We didn't think Nod had developed some of this stuff. With it, we managed to finally construct your new armor to your specifications. First thing you will notice is that it has a Lazarus emitter. This grants you your stealth ability. Second, the material is a cross between our commando armor, and your robe. It is bullet-resistant, yet it allows you to utilize your hidden weapon techniques. Also, it's powered by a new kind of core that Nod was developing. We tested it against our own battery technology, and their approach is, and I hate to admit it, superior to our approach. So your armor will be the first deployment of their technology in our hands. We also used the reactor technology to upgrade your Revolver Stake. It now has a higher output for a longer time. So now it's more effective in battle. Finally, your glasses have been modified with the micro-circuit technology that is in the visors of our commando helmets. It means that your glasses will display vital information, and you can still see out of them. Micro switches on the top of the frame toggle the display. There's also a micro camera on the front of the right temple. This is useful for snapping pictures of important tech blueprints you may happen upon while taking down a structure. You can go ahead and suit up and load up."

Mousse slipped into the armor. It doesn't look all that different from his own, until he hit a switch on his right wrist. Instantly, the air warps around him, and he disappears. "Ah, I see you found the Lazarus switch. That activates and deactivates the optical camouflage. Whenever you fire your weapon though, the shield overloads and drops momentarily."

Mousse then loaded the sleeves with his various kunai, shuriken, bow staffs, swords, scythes, and of course the first item he successfully hid: his ducky potty seat. Johnson couldn't help but laugh at the last item, having never noticed it. "What's that, your laughter gun? If you pull that out on the enemy, they wouldn't be able to fight due to the fits of laughter they'd be in."

Mousse, obviously offended by this, explains the potty seat. "For your information, the potty seat was the first item I ever hid successfully. I keep it as a reminder of my achievement of that moment. It's sentimental to me."

Johnson, still laughing, responds to this. "Ok, ok. To each their own. If you wanna go ahead and head on up to the training field, that's fine. You're done here."

Mousse leaves, even as Johnson's still giggling a little bit.

-/0\-

Nabiki and Haverson finally connect to the GDI Global Satellite Intelligence Network, and get an overhead view of the first target area.

"Ok people. Listen up."

Everyone's in the briefing room now. Akane has a pair of handcuffs made out of an exotic material that she has been unable to break thus far on. Behind her are a couple of guards. The handcuffs are also tethered to a chain of the same material at her waist so she can't use the cuffs as a weapon. Ryouga's made it a habit of sitting at the other end of the table, next to Ukyo, who shoots Ryouga occasional glances. Ranma's desperately trying to keep Shampoo off of him. At the same time, Shampoo's trying equally hard to keep Mousse off of her.

Cologne just sighs at this.

"Today we're going to brief you on the operation. Nod has in this area three targets of opportunity that we can strike at. The first one is this research facility in the area that Nod is using to study new ways of using Tiberium. One of these ways, we are informed, is a Liquid Tiberium Bomb of untold power. The second one is a nuclear launch facility, the same one that destroyed the GDSS Philadelphia. Finally, this Nod port controls shipping for the area. We destroy it, and Nod's supply line is shut down. The mission line-ups are as follows: Ranma and Ukyo will take down the research facility. Try to save as much of the data as you can. Shampoo and Mousse will take out the nuclear missile silo and the surrounding base. Again, save as much data as you can. Finally, Akane and Ryouga will take out the port."

Akane's speechless at this, and Ryouga interjects. "What…me work with that psycho? SHE TRIED TO KILL ME!!!"

Haverson just sighs. "There's a method to my madness. The assignments are final. That's the end of it. Ranma, Ukyo, you two will be deploying real soon. The base that was responsible for taking out the research facility was attacked. We lost contact with it, so we dispatched Zone Troopers to the area. We lost contact with them as well. You will head over there, re-establish contact with the base, and take over the mission to take down the Nod facility. Nod has a couple bases in the area, and we've received reports of increased infra-red activity. Some pretty heavily concentrated patches of heat were detected in the area. Prepare to move out. You two depart in 30 minutes. And be careful: whatever those patches of heat are, they have the distinctive shape of a vehicle with spray nozzles. I can compare it to the archive of Nod vehicles, but…just be careful out there."

Everyone leaves for their quarters. Ranma and Ryouga are in their room discussing the outburst. "Hey Ryouga, what was all that about anyway?"

Ryouga simply replies with "Akane hasn't forgiven me for taking advantage of her as a pig."

Ranma seems to understand. "I saw you and Ukyo on the observation deck. I didn't want to disturb you, but looking back, if I did disturb you, Akane wouldn't have attacked you. I went back up later and saw the destruction. Well, I gotta head out now. Is my suit on right?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean Ranma?!?"

Ranma simply laughes at Ryouga's outburst, and heads up to the waiting transport and boards it with Ukyo.

The transport's engines spin up, and the transport takes off, carrying its precious cargo to a decimated GDI base.

-/0\--/0\-

Akane's scaaarrryyy when she's mad. Oh well…more chaos to ensue in the coming chapters. Will Akane make another attempt on Ryouga's life, or is Haverson's hunch about her regretting the whole incident fact? Stay tuned.

In the next chapter: Ranma goes Nekoken again, but the results are shocking. Although I may have spoiled it, that's what the preview's for.


	9. Mission 5: Casabad

Command and Ranma, Act 2: Casabad

Author Notes:

Today, I'm taking the opportunity to explain why and how 4 dishes of ice cream, and 2 bottomless cups of coffee cost 40 credits. There really are two types of credits available: SCredits, and BCredits. SCredits are what the personnel are paid with. I have them set as the real-time equivalent of 50 cents. That would take that one bill to $20. About right for ice cream and coffee. BCredits are what's used in base and unit construction. Those are equal to roughly $100 real-time dollars. Makes more sense than having a Juggernaut cost $1,100 to build. Instead, it costs $220,000 to build real-time.

And now you know…

Nod Aircraft

InOps Field Guide to Nod Aircraft in TW3 Theatres of War

Nod aircraft have evolved considerably since TW2. Nod is fielding the VTOL Venom Scout, the batwing Vertigo Stealth Bomber, a Carryall that can transport troops and equipment, and a high altitude, long range bomber called the Armageddon. Venoms are lightly armed and armored but can take on a wide variety of targets on the ground and in the air - they are even capable of engaging our Orcas in air-to-air combat. The Vertigo evades detection by most GDI sensors and only "de-cloaks"; to drop it powerful bombs on target structures and vehicles. The Nod Carryall is the counterpart to our V-35 Ox, a VTOL aircraft that can pick up and transport a wide variety of troops and equipment. Finally, the Armageddon is seen infrequently but when it appears on the battlefield, it is usually bringing bad news. Nod Armageddon aircraft are used to deliver cluster mines and a number of exotic air-to-ground weapons.

Liquid Tiberium Research

Nod Weaponising New Form of Tiberium

An advanced Nod Tiberium weapon research program was recently uncovered when a GDI Strike Team in North Africa stormed a Nod facility originally thought to be a Chemical Weapons factory. Science Division Evaluation of the Wreckage subsequently confirmed several large scale Tiberium weaponisation efforts underway. Of most concern to InOps is evidence of significant progress towards the creation of a Liquid Tiberium device of unprecedented destructive power. The liquid form of Tiberium is a relatively new manifestation of the alien substance and its properties are not well known. Nod's Liquid Tiberium research appears to be 5 to 10 years ahead of Science Division.

There were also indications that Nod is working on a more conventional airborne Tiberium explosive and a catalyst for detonating existing Tiberium crystal deposits in a sub-critical reaction.

Analysis of past Nod RD efforts (which tend to be redundant and decentralized in nature) suggests the Nod Lab in North Africa was only one of several facilities participating in the Tiberium weaponisation efforts.

-/0\--/0\-

The Ox transport's heard fading into the distance. Ukyo establishes an uplink with command to verify their position.

"All right Ukyo, Ranma. You are approximately 2 kilometers south of the outpost. Head up there and re-establish contact. Once that's done, see if the Zone Troopers are ok. If they are, get the information on the facility from them. If they aren't, well, then proceed to destroy the Nod base."

"Copy that Nabiki; there's something strange down here though." Ukyo started, as she observes the environment.

"What's wrong Ukyo?" Nabiki asked.

"There's no Tiberium. Are you sure we deployed to a Yellow Zone, and not a Yellow Zone with dreams of grandeur?"

"I'm…positive…that's a yellow zone. Hold on, pulling up satellite imagery of the area now." There's a brief pause as Nabiki views the image. "But that's impossible. We didn't deploy a Refinery OR a Sonic Emitter to the area. There should be some pretty big pockets of Tiberium out there. This must be Nod's doing. Move to the outpost so we can find out what's going on."

"Copy that, forward team out." Ukyo closes the comm line. "Hey Ranma, race ya to the outpost."

Ranma's excited at the challenge. "Bad decision Ukyo, you're on."

With that, Ranma and Ukyo start running to the base, Ranma in the lead. He stops dead in his tracks though.

"Ranma, why're you stopping?" Ukyo's puzzled that Ranma would stop cold turkey like he did.

"Look." Ranma points at something in the air. His finger's moving with a group of dots in the sky. Ukyo, puzzled, zooms in on the formation. What she sees is a group of black and red VTOL craft. "Team N-1 to command, we've spotted a group of black VTOL's. I repeat: black VTOL's spotted in the direction of the outpost. Report back."

"We confirm. What you see are Nod's Venom aircraft. They're superior to our Orca's in every way, including the fact that they don't have to return to their air pad to rearm. Nod also has a Vertigo Bomber, of which we have no information on at this time, and an Armageddon high-altitude bomber, which Nod uses to deploy support powers from. If those are in the area, we may have to deploy Firehawks in the coming days to counter more efficiently. Proceed to the outpost; the Venom group has retreated to the east; they were probably looking for survivors at the GDI base anyway. Nod won't be expecting you immediately."

With that, the comm line goes dead, and Ukyo and Ranma proceed to the outpost, in a more cautious manner this time. They make it to the base, only to find out its dead quiet. Ukyo heads into the Tech Center; the tallest structure that has what looks like an observatory on the top, and moves to the main control center. She establishes an uplink with command, but then quickly turns around, donning her battle spatula. Someone in powered armor steps out of the shadows, leveling a double-tined weapon at Ukyo. They notice that they both carry the GDI emblem, and both stow their weapons.

"You're the GDI reinforcements? You were probably sent because of Nod's jamming field. They disrupted the Tech Center so we couldn't get a transmission out. Man, are we glad to see you. I'm Sergeant First Class Danson, in charge of a Zone Trooper squad. The rest of my men are below deck in the Barracks." At this, a commotion is heard in the Barracks. They quickly head over, only to find that three Zone Troopers are in a crumpled heap, and Ranma's sitting on top, his chest a little more prominent than usual. He spoke, but his voice is higher than normal, indicating that he came in contact with cold water. "These guys jumped me for no apparent reason. They didn't even bother to identify themselves."

"Um…Ranma…those were the Zone Troopers that we were supposed to contact. Second, let's head into the kitchen and get you dealt with."

Danson's a little confused, but doesn't give it a second thought, as he tends to his squad's needs. Almost immediately, the Power Packs on the Zone Trooper's armor kicks in, healing any injuries and deploying nano-bots to repair the armor.

-/0\-

Haverson and Nabiki are sighing in grief, as the forward team reports in that the squad's ok, but three of the members are recovering from an encounter with the red-haired firecracker.

"Sir, we just finished transferring the data that the Zone Trooper squad collected on the Nod base in the area. It's too heavily defended for a mining operation. They also included images of the defenses in the area. They're coming through now."

Images start pouring in. The first one was of a dome-topped vehicle with twin cylinders sticking out of the rear at an upward angle. On the front was a pair of projection nozzles with direct feed lines to the canisters. The second image that came in was of the Venom craft that Ranma and Ukyo spotted on their way in. The central body was like the Orca, only with the cockpit mounted more toward the front. It also featured a chin-mounted machine gun. The big selling point was that the entire wing assembly could pivot, better supporting vertical flight. Both vehicles were black with red hues, to support Nod's hit-fade tactics. Defenses also included the Scorpion Tank, which looked weird with a tread trailer on the back, and a tank cannon mounted on the forward section; the Laser Turret hub, which provided anti-vehicle defense; the Shredder Turret which, with its shotgun-like projectiles, could easily tear through infantry; and of course, Nod infantry, with support from Raider Buggies and Recon Bikes.

'I swear I saw that vehicle design somewhere.' Haverson thought to himself as he looked at the Flame Tank's image. He begins accessing the EVA tech database on the Flame Tank. Immediately he gets two hits for previous versions. He pulls up the first one, which is of a long flat vehicle with a drill on the front. He dismisses it, and calls up the second entry. The image on this entry is of a grey vehicle with twin cylinders mounted on its back. Feed lines connect them to projection nozzles. "THAT'S IT." Haverson shouted out.

"What's it sir?"

"The Nod Flame Tank, first used back in the first Tiberium War. One of our tasks as GDI Commanders is that we command simulated battles using past technology. The current Flame Tank is a step back from the TW2 version, which was subterranean." Haverson pulls up both images and puts them next to each other.

Nabiki ponders over this evidence. "He's right. You two have to be careful down there. The Flame Tank uses projection nozzles to spray pure fire in the direction of infantry."

Haverson butts in. "I've seen this thing tear through infantry columns in a heartbeat. This vehicle's dangerous. Try to stay out of the range of its guns. Also, if Nod's deploying their Stealth Field support power, there's no telling what this thing could do. I've used this tactic in simulations. What they could do is permanently cloak the Flame Tank, then the tank can sneak up on you, and cook you alive."

-/0\-

Ranma and everyone else at the base are shocked at this. "But that's…that's…horrible."

"That's the whole point Ranma. Nod doesn't care who dies. If somebody gets in the way of Nod's goal, you better be signing up, because otherwise, you die."

-/0\-

"All right then, let's plan how we're going to do this." Nabiki said; her image on the main display in the Tech Center.

"There's a Tiberium Spike in the area; this, and two others will be the funding for the operation. An Engineer needs to go commandeer the spike while the plan is being laid out. We will need more Zone Troopers to run defense alongside Missile Squads in the Foxholes that a pair of Riflemen will be building. This will be our ground and air defense."

As Nabiki is laying out the plan, EVA interrupts on the base intercom. "Tiberium Spike aquired, fund transfer has begun."

"Good, that's good. Now we get another Engineer trained. Ukyo, you have to escort this engineer along with a Zone Trooper Squad. Once the second spike is retaken, the main assault force will be prepared. Ranma and two Zone Trooper squads will take out this northern outpost. You will also be escorting the last Engineer to the third Spike. Ukyo will be leading the main assault with another group of Zone Troopers; I'd say about 5 squads in this group. The large heat signatures of the Flame Tanks are concentrated in the main base, and more are being generated. One of your objectives will be to eliminate the War Factory. Ranma, the northern outpost isn't much, so once your group's done with that, head south and help in the destruction of the main base. Try and discover what they're doing in that research facility as you make your way to the MCT to blow the facility."

"You have the plan, get moving. Time is of the essence."

-/0\-

Ukyo and Danson's squad depart with an engineer to the second Tiberium Spike, along the south of the area.

As they're moving, they're harassed by Nod Venom. Ukyo's seen enough of the Nod VTOL's, so she unlimbers her battle spatula, and swings it. Danson kinda laughs, until a sizzling directs his attention up, where the Venom are splitting down the middle and blowing up. "I take that back Ukyo, you're pretty strong."

The group reaches the second Spike, and the Engineer enters the Spike to interface the extractor's computers with GDI High Command.

Ukyo and Danson's squad then return to base, to meet up with nine more squads.

-/0\-

Ranma's group is starting to move out. Their target: the Nod outpost. It was decided that as the third Tiberium Spike lies on the way to the outpost, that they would escort the Engineer to the Spike, and then continue with their mission. On the way however, they run into a group of 7 Scorpion Tanks. The Zone Troopers make short work of 6 of them, but their rifles are still cooling down. Ranma focuses his ki and confidence into his hand, and shapes it into a projectile.

"Moko Takabisha!!!" Ranma launches the golden projectile of confidence into the last tank, and it promptly blows apart. The Zone Troopers couldn't help but be impressed.

The group drop the Engineer off, and along the outside, the color phasing shifts to the GDI's blue. Ranma's group moves onto the outpost.

-/0\-

Ukyo's group begins to move along the south of the area. In the distance to the north, a golden aura is seen from Ranma's Moko Takabisha. Ukyo also can't help but be impressed, but the group moves on. They make it to just south of the research facility. They spot the facility, and the Flame Tanks guarding it. Ukyo lobs one of her flour grenades into the base, creating a smokescreen.

"Okonomiyaki Special: Hidden Battle Slash!!" Ukyo shouts as she swings her spatula toward the smokescreen, invisible blades of sound emanating, and cutting down the unseen enemies. However, the area seems to be heating up. The screen quickly clears, and one Flame Tank's nozzles are lit up, the ignition flame activated. The areas where the other three tanks were are nothing but giant scorch marks. The Research Facility also took major damage from the attacks. The Flame Tank closes in, but 10 lances of energy shoot through the pressure cooker Nod calls a tank and it blows up. The napalm canisters catch on fire and explode. Ukyo looks around her, and 10 rail guns are pointed at the spot where the tank once sat.

-/0\-

Ranma's group jumps up the cliff edge to the Nod assault. Immediately they are met with fierce resistance. The Zone Troopers are helping to cover for Ranma, as he proceeds to plant explosive charges on the structures. He systematically makes his way through the base, but as he gets to the last structure: the Air Tower, he's met with fierce resistance. The Zone Troopers make quick work of the structure for him. As they are leaving south to the main base, Ranma pushes a button, detonating all of the C4 in the area. One big fireball ignites behind him as all 7 charges go off at once, leveling the base.

-/0\-

Ukyo notices the fireball from Ranma's general direction. Even the Nod forces stop to see what the commotion was about. Ukyo takes this moment to skewer the Nod troops with her spatula shuriken. Her group then proceeds to level the base as she enters the Research Facility. She places all sorts of blueprints and lab records into her rucksack, then begins to set the self-destruct on the facility at the MCT. She quickly makes her way back to the surface as the building begins to blow up behind her.

"Command, the research facility is down. Me and Ranma are extracting now. I have the information."

"Copy that. Well done down there. See you back at base."

-/0\-

30 minutes later, Nabiki and Haverson are starting to pore over the information that Ukyo recovered. Ranma's resting, having exhausted himself out on the battlefield, and Ukyo's secretly visiting with Ryouga, so as not to stir up more trouble with Akane.

-/0\--/0\-

Next up: Akane and Ryouga disrupt port operations. Does Ryouga live through his mission with Akane, or do they "kiss and make up," so to speak?

RnR.


	10. Mission 6: Alexandria

Command and Ranma GDI: Act 2 Mission 2: Alexandria

Author Notes:

Alexandria. Nod's Port Authority for the region. It is here that a new demon will be born, or happiness will reign throughout the Nerima Wrecking Crew. Either way, Akane and Ryouga have to settle their differences, and make up with each other (mainly so Ryouga can make out with Ukyo without fear of be maimed where he stands).

But for now…

Discontinuation of the Mammoth Mk II Walker

Excerpt from INN Holobrief, March 12th, 2039

It was a sad day for many today as the last Mammoth Mark II Walker to enter active combat duty clanked its way out of GDI's San Pedro War Factory and into history. With its twin Rail Guns, Battlefield dominance, and unusual boxy profile, the Mk. II became an iconic symbol of freedom during the Second Tiberium War. Its discontinuation has been greeted by many with anger, notably Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker, retired war hero, popular conservative pundit, and noted proponent of the "Kane lives" theory.

"The Mark II was and continues to be one of our most powerful tools in the war against Nod fanaticism. This discontinuation is nothing but another disgusting example of GDI bureaucratic penny pinching and namby pamby "can't we all just get along" liberalism ... once again, GDI is playing right into Kane's hands."

With protests held at containment areas several miles away, the mood at the factory was more resigned than angry, Production of the controversial new four-tread all-terrain Mark III is scheduled to take place in far off Reykjavik, with many in San Pedro fearing for their jobs and the future of their community ...

The Blunder that Nearly Finished GDI

W3N Transcript from The Frank Hour

"…we thought our space stations and Ion Cannons were the safest of our military assets. We put our most valuable military personnel, our most important command and control systems, and our most powerful weapons in space for this very reason. Little did we know that our space assets had a deadly vulnerability - a single point of failure located in a poorly defended installation ON THE GROUND. Nod exploited this vulnerability at the worst possible time, when our entire Political and Military leadership was on board the Philadelphia. This is a scandal of staggering magnitude."

"It gets worse; W3N investigative reporters dug into this story and discovered that the decision to locate our A-SAT control systems on the ground at Goddard Space Centre was made because of cost. SpaceCom would have had to build an entire new orbital platform just for the computers and crew at a cost of tens of billions. This is an outrage. Security in space was an illusion all along - and GDI was almost wiped out because SpaceCom wanted to save some money ..."

-/0\--/0\-

Akane continues to sit under observation in her cell as she is waging a war inside her mind.

'What do I care what Ryouga does anyway? It's not like he knows how to socialize effectively. The most contact he ever got was…from me…the rest of the time he's on the road lost in the middle of a forest or on top of a mountain trying to make heads or tails of where to go. But, for some reason I wanna prevent him from taking advantage of other people, yet it's none of my business what he does.'

Akane continues to stew over what's happened, when the MP's come in to escort her to the briefing room.

-/0\-

Ryouga's waiting for Akane to arrive, along with Haverson and Nabiki. Akane comes in with a sullen look on her face, and two MP's escorting her.

"Ah, glad you can join us. The strike on Nod's Port Authority in Alexandria will occur tomorrow. We need to get you up to speed." Haverson pulls up an aerial image of the target area. "We already have a GDI base in the area, but they are severely outmanned, and in the last strike, the commander was killed when the Command Post was hit. Nabiki's going out there to replace him. Here's what we know so far about Nod: They have two loading cranes that load cargo onto their ships. They also have two battleships docked in the harbor right now. Also, Nod has a nice little base surrounding the Port Authority buildings. There's also an EMP Control Center in the area. Your primary targets are the cranes and the Port Authority structures. Claiming the EMP Center and destroying the ships are optional targets, but are highly recommended as that will weaken Nod's forces even more. There's also a Tiberium field to the north of our base in the area. If a Surveyor is deployed there, your job will become a whole lot easier. You two will be the special forces in the area. You have your orders. Nabiki will set the plan in the field. You deploy in 5 hours. Guards, please release Akane in 3 hours so she can get ready."

Haverson gets on the line with the air tower controller. "Have two Ox transports ready to carry the special ops personnel. One of them is a little hot-headed, and I don't want her on the same transport as someone"

-/0\-

Ryouga's getting into his gear. Ranma's in the room as well. "Hey Ryouga, you worried?"

Ryouga looks puzzled at the question. "Why would I be worried about guys running around in black looking like they own the place?"

"Not about Nod, about Akane. I saw the destruction around the observation deck. I'm genuinely worried you're gonna come back in a matchbox."

Ryouga doesn't give the question another thought as he gets the helmet on and runs diagnostics of the systems, even verifying the Enhanced GPS module works.

-/0\-

Akane and Ryouga briefly see each other before getting onto the transports. Ryouga's quickly looking for a way out before Akane decides to maim him where he stands. Instead…

"Um Ryouga…about earlier…um, I think there was a major misunderstanding." But Akane looks up to see Ryouga's transport taking off. Akane huffs in frustration, and boards her transport.

-/0\-

Haverson and Nabiki are in the command center, continuing to monitor Ryouga and Akane in their Ox's, the hidden cameras unnoticed by the two. Akane is showing excessive grief, and Ryouga's looking equally depressed. Next to him, Nabiki's also looking at the live footage.

"Are you sure about this?" Nabiki asked.

"Huh?"

"Are you sure it's a good idea to put them together? A couple days ago, she was ready to kill him. Now…she looks like she needs a suicide watch. I know she's my sister and I shouldn't be talking about her like that, but…it's not a pretty site to see her like this. Last time she was like this was…was…damn. She's been this way so many times I can't recall the last time she was like this."

"That bad huh? Well, I stand by my decision to pair them up for the mission Nabiki. It'll be interesting to see how she handles herself out there. Now you're transport's waiting Nabiki. Time to move out."

Nabiki leaves the command center to board her transport to the base.

-/0\-

Ryouga's transport's the first to land at the base. He's taken inside where he's shown satellite imagery of Nod's defenses. He downloads the updated information to his armor, where it's overlaid onto his GPS.

-/0\-

Akane's transport begins its descent, even as Nabiki is close behind in her transport, and as a new Command Post is erected below in the base, and a Surveyor is mobilized.

The transport carrying the volatile cargo lands, and Akane disembarks.

"Ma'am, orders from Command: you're to escort the Surveyor to the Tiberium field to the north. A War Factory and Refinery will be constructed shortly after deployment's completed."

Akane starts to run alongside the Surveyor as it makes its way north. She catches a glimpse of Ryouga amongst the hustle and bustle of the base still in chaos over the last attack.

-/0\-

Nabiki looks out the porthole of the crew cabin on her Ox. Below, she spots her Command Post, and opens a comm line. "Pilot, set down next to the Command Post."

"Yes ma'am. Beginning descent now; stand by."

-/0\-

The new command staffs spots the transport that's carrying their new commander touching down, and rush outside to greet her.

"Ma'am, glad you could make it. The base is ready to deploy a Tech Center now. We need you to place the final assembly spot, and to organize the defenses. We managed to keep a Mammoth Tank in tact from the last attack, but it's not going to be enough." One of the crewmen said. Nabiki looks at the nametag on his shirt real quick.

"Thanks for the update, Lieutenant Davvers."

Elsewhere, another crewman shouted out. "Ma'am, update on the Surveyor. Deployment's begun now. Information from the Construction Yard: War Factory construction complete, awaiting deployment; construction crews reporting in: Tech Center deployment complete. Research crews in place and beginning application of Railgun technology to the Mammoth Tank."

-/0\-

Ryouga's admiring the largest vehicle in the base area, when the crewmen for it walk up. "Like it?"

"Huh, oh yeah. I've never seen anything this big in all of my travels and hardships. What is it?" Ryouga queried.

"This is the Mammoth 27, or simply Mammoth Tank. One of the most powerful mobile units in existence. Armaments consist of twin 150mm anti-armor cannons, and twin 4.75" rocket pods. We like it because it's large enough to crush vehicles even, and still be a pretty fast beast for its size. I hear they're going to get a new piece of equipment today as well. Yeah, this thing's going into the shop for a retrofit with a new gun mount."

Ryouga continues to look at the Mammoth Tank. "What kind of armor does it use?"

"Well that's top secret really. But I hear it's some sort of ultra-light, ultra-strong metal alloy. Absolutely no ceramic core unlike the predecessors, and I don't even know the specs myself."

-/0\-

Back in the command center, Nabiki's putting the finishing touches on the plan to take down Nod in this sector.

"So the Orca's will move in and destroy the port. Two teams of four will easily take out one of those battleships. Once those are down, reinforcements can link up with our group. I understand we will be getting two more Mammoth's to shore up the assault team. As for the assault, Ryouga will take a team of two Mammoth's and attack from the southwest, being sure to reclaim the EMP Center. Akane will attack from the north, being sure to clean up the port of any remaining hostiles."

At this, a message came in from command. Haverson's voice is heard on the line. "Nabiki, it would be wiser to put Akane and Ryouga together for the assault. This is just my suggestion, but having those two together coming from one direction while the Mammoth Tank's distract the Nod forces from another would be a better option. That way, those two can concentrate on the Port Authority buildings, while the Mammoth's deal with the rest of the base, and then Nod can't retaliate against your comrades."

"That's a slightly better plan than what I had in mind. Ok. In the meantime, I'm getting a couple airfields built to deal with the docks."

"Haverson out." The comm line clicks shut. Nabiki gets on the line with the Construction Yard. "Yardmaster, we need two airfields. We're going on the offensive."

"Aye ma'am. Airfields queued in, construction commencing."

As Nabiki watches the $2000 drain from her battlefield funds, she opens another comm line, this time with Akane. "Akane, you should return to base, I'm dispatching Mammoth Tanks to take over on defense."

"Ok, returning to base." Akane says, shortly before closing the comm. Nabiki opens yet another comm line. "Mammoth team 1, please move north to the outpost. We got the defense covered now. You're retrofits are waiting at the War Factory up there. Please move there now."

"Aye ma'am."

-/0\-

"All right, let's roll people. Mount up!!!" As the tank commanders mount up, the drivers climb into the front hatch, the gunners in the rear of the massive vehicles. Maintenance crews finish their checks of the treads, and the pivot points connecting them to the main chassis. Arming of the Mammoth's complete, each of the two tanks are armed with 50 tank shells, and 100 missiles, the tech crews disconnect the power umbilical's keeping the tanks warm from the main inlet, and the drivers start up the engine. Everyone throughout the base instantly knew that the Mammoth's started up, because the engine whined with the force of a thousand horses. "Mammoth tank group, moving out now."

The Mammoth's leapt forward, if that was even possible for a 75 ton tank, and began moving north.

-/0\-

Akane continues her mad dash back to base to hook up with her battle group, passing the Mammoth Tanks traveling at a nice brisk 20 MPH. Akane can't help but wonder how a vehicle of that size can travel that fast. She quickly dismisses the thought, and returns to base.

-/0\-

In the command yard, the construction crews finish construction of the Airfields and have placed them already. They get back to work on shoring up the base defenses.

Elsewhere in the base, the Airfields begin construction of the eight Orca's that will be stationed at the base. Each Airfield has a parts container containing the segmented parts for four aircraft. In this case, four VTOL attack copters. In about 6 minutes, both airfields are ready to commence the attack on the docks. Nabiki gives the command, and the Orca's take off. They fly to the target, ready to unleash their 6 underwing missiles on the unsuspecting ships. Below, Nod soldiers try to shoot down the aircraft, but the Orca's are flying too fast for the rockets to hit. The Orca's arrive, come to a stop, unleashing their hell storm. About 40 missiles later, one of the ships sinks. The Orca's return to base, radioing in their status.

-/0\-

Akane and Ryouga wait along with an Engineer and four Zone Trooper squads for their go-code. Akane continues to have a sorrowful look on her face. She looks at Ryouga, then down at her grenade launcher, and back at Ryouga, but quickly quells the murderous thought. "Um, Ryouga, what is it you wanted to tell me back at the base before we came here?"

Ryouga doesn't look at Akane even as he replies. "Not here Akane."

"But…" Akane starts.

"Not here." Ryogua says, cutting Akane off mid-sentence.

Their radio comes to life shortly, two words heard before the radio clicks off again. "Bravo, go."

The group begins to move to take the EMP control center, the engineer behind everyone else. Akane locks in one of her grenades, and spots a Nod garrison. She sets the grenade to nerve gas, and fires the grenade into a garrisoned structure. The grenade has an immediate effect, as Nod forces fall out of the windows in an attempt to escape the deadly gas. Almost instantly afterward, the gas dissipates, and the building is safe again. She repeats this for the other two garrisons, and the area is safe. The Zone Troopers station themselves at each of the four corners around the EMP Control Center, and the Engineer moves inside to claim the structure. Akane and Ryouga then move to the north to prepare for the assault on the Nod base. Akane spots the pop-up laser turrets that Nod favors for anti-vehicle defense, as well as the shotgun-like turrets of anti-infantry. She then notices a greenish aura next to her. She looks in time to see Ryouga holding an orb of ki.

"Shi Shi Hokodan!!!" Ryouga calls out, launching the sphere of ki at the base. Instantly, all of the turrets are destroyed, the surge neutralizing the hub as well.

"That's why I said not now. That attack's main power is depression. If I made up with you, then I wouldn't have been depressed, and the attack wouldn't have worked."

"Oh Ryouga, you dummy, let's finish this first. I promise not to kill you immediately afterward."

"Thanks Aka…wait, by that you mean you will eventually kill me, don't you?"

"Um…maybe…" Akane teases.

-/0\-

The Mammoth Tank battalion is still leveling the Nod base, trying to buy some time for Akane and Ryouga, whose task is to destroy the Port Authority buildings. "Continue to level the base. Target the Construction Yard next. Afterward, continue to target production structures and defense hubs. We need to clear away the Port Authority guard next."

-/0\-

Akane and Ryouga make it into the first target structure; their target is the MCV at the top. They fight their way through hoards of enemy soldiers, Akane having switched to her Sonic Gloves. They reach the top, only after having fought through 100+ soldiers to reach the MCV. Akane punches the terminal until it crumbles under the vicious assault. On the main screen, a countdown from 10 seconds appears.

"Uh oh, that doesn't look good Ryouga; we should get out of here, like RIGHT NOW!" Akane said.

"Follow me." Ryouga said, heading in no particular direction whatsoever.

"Ryouga, that's the window…I wanna get out of here in one piece."

"It's either the window or we turn into fireworks."

Ryouga grabs Akane's arm, and with a second to spare, burst through the window. Behind them, the structure explodes in a fireball, having self-destructed to prevent Nod secrets from falling into enemy hands. They land roughly on the ground, but Akane seems relatively unharmed compared to what could have happened. She looks down to find that Ryouga positioned himself underneath her.

"Um…Akane, you can get off of me now. Plenty of time for that when the missions over." Ryouga says underneath a nice little blush.

Akane gets up, and helps Ryouga up as well. "Thanks Ryouga."

They move onto the second structure, just in time to see it fall under the onslaught of 4 Mammoth Tanks. "Sorry 'bout that. We weren't sure when you two would decide between a room and the mission."

Almost immediately, an Ox transport arrives on scene to extract the two martial artists, now friendly with each other. The hatch opens to reveal Nabiki. "Get on, command needs you in debriefing ASAP."

Akane and Ryouga board the Ox and head back to base, and to whatever lays in wait for the two.

-/0\--/0\-

Yeah, I decided to have them make up like this. Yeah, it may not last very long, knowing Akane's violent tendencies. Yeah, there's a next chapter coming.

Preview: Shampoo and Mousse take out a nuclear launch facility; can she keep him off of her?


	11. Mission 7: Cairo

Command and Ranma, GDI: Cairo

Author Notes: I had the Akane-Ryouga conflict because I operated under the assumption that Akane never found out about Ryouga's curse before the debriefing. However, the Nerima Police would have known, therefore that's why the information was in the file, and therefore, brought up at the debriefing.

The following is another classic bout you find often: Shampoo and Mousse. It's unclear if Mousse actually gets the message or not, but…you have to keep reading to find that out.

I also decided to take a leaf out of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and made it so that Mammoths operate on a Power Umbilical when in the hanger. That way, they aren't wasting whatever fuel cell they operate on when in the hanger, but the vehicle is still warm so it takes less time to start up. Don't sue.

And now, for the tech database, which offers a little insight on Nod's arsenal.

Nod's Nuclear Arsenal

InOps Flash Report

Nod has consolidated its Nuclear Arsenal at its Cairo Nuke Facility. What was once a mobile Nuclear Force is now a massive central arsenal. The reasons for the centralization of Nod's nukes is not known, although speculation ranges from paranoia (Kane is afraid that his Commanders might rebel and use nukes on Kane Loyalists) to preparation for some unknown operational contingency or a gain in efficiency in operations. Whatever the reason, we do know one thing for sure: Take out the Cairo facility and we deprive Nod of its nuclear capability.

Cairo Nuclear Launch Facility

InOps Flash Report

Strike on Philadelphia originated at Nod's Cairo Nuclear Launch Facility.

InOps have confirmed that the missile used to destroy the Philadelphia was launched from an underground silo connected to Nod's Nuclear Launch Facility in Cairo. Detection of this facility by sat-surveillance prior to the Philadelphia incident was difficult because most of the structures were buried underground or disguised. Since the start of TW3, Nod has removed the masking above ground to facilitate launch operations. The underground silo that launched the Philadelphia strike is now inactive, with Nod's launch operations transferred to a central raised platform with a much lower cycle time between missile launches.

-/0\--/0\-

The command center is a flurry of action. Teams of command staff are coordinating the effort against Nod. One time is finishing up with Casabad, and another is recalling the NWC personnel deployed to Alexandria for debriefing. Another is preparing for the next mission: the strike on Cairo Base.

"Sir, satellite imagery has a weird structure at Cairo. Infrared is showing a massive heat source. Pattern: gamma. It's a nuke sir. That base is hosting Nod's nuclear arsenal. Now we really need to take it down. I'm also reading a large power signature powering the facility, and a full-fledged base. We need to strike at that base with our best."

Haverson ponders over the new information for a little bit. "Very well. When Nabiki get's back, get her on a transport with Shampoo and Mousse in 30 minutes. I want those two gearing up yesterday."

The command crew begins preparations.

-/0\-

Nabiki boards the transport with Akane and Ryouga. One of the techs in the troop bay confronts Nabiki.

"Ma'am, message from command. They're sending you right back out for the strike on Cairo Base, and Nod's nuclear arsenal."

"Copy that. Who're they sending out with me?"

"Shampoo and Mousse…but why…" the tech started.

"Don't worry, I know who he means." Nabiki interjected.

-/0\-

45 minutes later, Shampoo and Mousse are on the transport, both in full gear. Shampoo has her sword mounted on her back, and the bonbori on her hips. Mousse has his new robe-armor on, which surprisingly enough, looks like his normal robes, except for the whole bullet-resistant and Lazarus shield features.

"Shampoo, whatever happens, I want you to know that I always love you.

"Shut it duck-boy"

"Ah, denied yet again. WHY WON'T YOU REALIZE OUR LOVE?"

"Because Shampoo no like you."

Nabiki, also on the transport, just sighs and asks the tech "When do I get to jump out?"

The tech just laughed.

-/0\-

Alongside the Ox's carrying the initial troop deployment, 3 Ox's specially modified with vehicle clamps are carrying Predator's; there's also a Carryall bringing the MCV with the squad. They arrive at a good landing zone, and the cargo is freed from the transports. Immediately, the MCV unpacks and the crews begin base construction. The Predators take up a defensive position to the east, which is where the Nod base's main entrance is located. Nabiki takes up her position in the Command Post, and a defenses line is established with the watchtower-guardian-guardian pattern. AA defenses are set up scattered throughout the base, and a Tech Center is being constructed, when the defensive line gets its first bit of action from a Nod attack.

-/0\-

In the Command Post, EVA manages to hack into the Nod BattleNet, and the AI locates a status on the nuclear missile. EVA relays this to Nabiki's display. She's shocked to learn that she's gotta do something to either pause or stop the countdown in 20 minutes.

"Once that Tech Center is constructed, I need five Zone Trooper squads and three Mammoth Tanks constructed. Also, I need Power Packs, Scanner Packs, and Rail Gun researches completed for the units. Get Shampoo and Mousse in here."

-/0\-

Shampoo and Mousse are on opposite ends of a long conference room, yet it still doesn't seem enough of a gap for Shampoo, and Mousse thinks the gap is too big. Nabiki enters, and has guards detain Mousse, using the same cuffs that were used on Akane.

"Mousse, did you know sexual harassment is a serious crime?"

"But Amazonians operate under different laws than this modern world."

"That's not why we're here though. We got a mission to run." Nabiki pulls up an aerial map of the area. She points to various spots as she talks. "As it is, we have 15 minutes left to disable and destroy the nuclear missile silo. We are here, to the southwest of the main base entrance. To our direct north is a cliff pass that runs right past the defenses into the heart of the base. You two will insert here. To provide a valid distraction, we are preparing a main assault force to attack the front of the base. While the Nod forces are preoccupied with our rail gun units, you two will sneak in. Shampoo will disable the power plants, and Mousse will take out the missile silo. This op is weapons-free. Use any means necessary to take out that silo. That missile must not launch. If it does, GDI's finished. You have your orders. Guards, release Mousse; Mousse stay off of Shampoo, or so help me…"

"Ok ok, I get it, sheesh." Mousse said, mentally crossing his fingers.

"Move out you two. We deploy in 30 seconds."

-/0\-

In the barracks, the Zone Trooper squads are busy checking each others armor, and making sure the enhancement packs are in place and working.

Elsewhere, techs are finishing work on the Mammoth Tanks, such as making sure the rail guns are calibrated to the region's atmosphere, and making sure the missiles are stocked. The good thing about rail guns is that they use smaller ammo that packs a bigger punch, so the Mammoth's can carry more rounds. The Mammoths are loaded in, and the crews begin boarding their vehicles. The driver begins power up, and the techs remove the Power Umbilicals from the vehicles. Soon the Mammoths are running under their own power, and are moving to meet up with the Zone Troopers outside the Nod base's front door.

-/0\-

Shampoo and Mousse climb over the edge of a cliff. Shampoo unsheathes her sword, and Mousse calibrates his suit for the terrain.

"Shampoo, allow me to make sure it's safe."

Shampoo begins to say that she doesn't need protecting, when Mousse shimmers out of existence before her very eyes. In front of her, she notes the vague outline of a human shimmering in front of her, as if the very air was warping.

"It's ok Shampoo…see? Stealth technology; I stole it from Nod in my last mission. I'm going to check see if it's ok"

Mousse moves to the other edge of the cliff and peers over it. He doesn't see anybody, uncloaks his right arm, and waves for Shampoo to come over. She comes, and drops down from the cliff. Mousse fully uncloaks, and does the same.

"Duck boy, we split from here. If together, found easier I think." Shampoo suggests.

Mousse agrees, and they both split up, Mousse re-cloaking in the process.

-/0\-

Danson is leading the assault for the operation against Nod's base.

"Ok people, here's the plan: We leave the power plants directly to the north of the nuclear missile silo, and the silo itself alone. We don't wanna be team-killers, do we? We only go after the production facilities surrounding the silo, as well as the main base to the northeast. Once this mission is over, we are done in this region. Are you with me?"

"SIR YES SIR" rang throughout the group.

"Then, MOVE OUT ARMOR DIVISION!!!"

The sounds of rail guns priming is heard, and then a quake measuring 2.5 on the Richter Scale is felt as the armored soldiers and the Mammoth Tanks all move north.

-/0\-

Shampoo in the meantime is having little problems reaching the power plants. She heads inside, and activates Sanryu. She makes her way down to the main regulator for the reactor in question, and begins tearing through it like it wasn't even there.

"Hey, what are you doing in here? This is a restricted area." Said a Nod soldier that came up behind her.

"Stupid man no interfere." Shampoo said, pulling out a bonbori as she did. She brought the bonbori down, taking out the floor, and the Nod guard as well.

Shampoo went back to shredding the main regulator, and soon the power for the silo went out.

-/0\-

Back at the command post, Nabiki notes that the countdown's holding at 10 minutes 5 seconds. On her display, an overlay is revealing that the area's power is currently out.

"Well done Shampoo. Now it's up to Mousse to destroy the silo and stop the countdown for good.

-/0\-

Mousse makes his way into the silo control room. He activates his night-vision lens overlay, with power still being out, and makes his way through the guards, his hidden weapons incapacitating each guard he meets. He makes sure to check each guard for a control key to the missile currently in the tube, and moves on after stealing their wallet.

He soon arrives at the control room, and quickly eliminates each person inside. He finds the control keys, and deactivates the missile.

-/0\-

Nabiki's screen immediately reads "Countdown to Launch: —DEACTIVATED—", with 'deactivated' flashing. "And all throughout the GDI forces, not a creature stirred, because they were frightened away by everyone's shouts of celebration over what we have done today. Well done people. Let's finish the Nod base and head home."

-/0\-

Mousse in the meantime, isn't done yet. On his way up, he noticed a secure lab that was keycard-sealed. Keycard in hand, he returns to the lab, and opens it. What he finds shocks him. In this room are plans for a giant mech, codenamed Avatar. He swipes all of the plans, and leaves the building, secretly pushing a detonator, which triggers a bomb on the MCT, destroying the structure in an instant. "Well done Mousse."

"Nabiki, I found some plans the GDI Tech Department might wanna see…Codename Avatar."

"Avatar…we heard Nod was building a Warmech, but we thought those were just rumors. Well done Mousse. Return to base. You too Shampoo. You both earned a break."

An Ox moves in to retrieve Mousse; another Ox retrieves Shampoo and pulls her out of her happy place.

Both transports return to Area Command, along with a third carrying Nabiki.

-/0\-

Nabiki reviews the plans that Mousse acquired, and instantly gets on the line with Haverson.

"It's me. It's about Project Avatar…"

-/0\--/0\-

Project Avatar…what could it be? A new weapon of mass destruction? Or something deadlier?

In the next chapter: Project Avatar is revealed, as well as plans for the Act 3 Missions. Act 2 is debriefed, and we get a surprise visit from someone special. Who could it be to be visiting? Find out.


	12. Act 2 Epilogue

Command and Ranma, Act 2 Epilogue

Author Notes: It was brought up that restricted areas are usually sealed off against unauthorized personnel, and also the same person brought up the differences between a blue, yellow, and red zone. I know the differences. The North Carolina Badlands are still in a blue zone. Also, allow me to bring up the differences between the Hazard Storages.

Hazard Storage Alpha: the lowest level of hazard storage. Contaminates that won't kill a person, and are non-contagious are usually kept here. Not sealed against unauthorized personnel, as personnel are inoculated against the stuff kept here, and the toxins aren't lethal, but people would definitely feel the effects of in the morning.

Hazard Storage Beta: non-lethal, contagious contaminates are stored here. Sealed against intrusion, even though personnel are also inoculated against the contagions stored here.

Hazard Storage Delta: lethal, non-contagious contaminates are stored here. Not really sealed, as anyone who comes into contact with the stored materials, usually die. Safe distribution is hard to do with the stored chemicals, but usually, only GDI personnel can enter the facilities. This list does not include the maintenance technicians, as the hazard technicians are responsible for security of the Hazard Storage Units.

Hazard Storage Mu: the second highest levels of security are in place with Mu storage facilities. Lethal and contagious contaminates are stored here, and are not only guarded with laser tripwire hallways and an automated defense turret at the end of the hallway, but ONLY hazard techs can enter the sector. The only things higher in security than Mu storage, is the GDI Nuclear Weapons storage facility, and the Philadelphia Orbital Space Station.

I guess that's the tech database for the day.

HAVERSON GETS HIS FIRST NAME…had to put that out there.

-/0\--/0\-

An Ox transport is seen landing at the base. Haverson and the rest of his on-site command crew greet the passengers that the transport is bringing to the base. The transport lands, and out steps an irritated woman, and someone who looks like a shriveled old prune.

"That…THING…wouldn't stay away from me. It took me and the 10 soldiers on board to subdue him long enough to arrive here…"

"We're very sorry for this. However when we found out he was still alive, we had to get him over here to analyze the martial artists' fighting abilities.

-/0\-

Akane is getting checked out by Dr. Mort because she's had a little difficulty breathing.

"When did you first notice the trouble Akane?" Dr. Mort said, waving various sensors over her chest.

"About 3 days ago, after the Alexandria mission."

"By any chance, did you go near Tiberium?"

"No…I was briefed on Tiberium. I wouldn't go near it for more than 5 seconds."

Dr. Mort puts a serious look on his face, considering the situation. "Well, that's very odd, considering that you must have inhaled a Tiberium particle. I'm afraid that it's too late now. The Tiberium is assimilating your lungs. It's only a matter of time…"

Akane faints at the news.

-/0\-

"We never did get introduced at the airfield. I just wanted to get away from that lecher. I'm Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Hawk, GDI Intelligence Operations. You must be Commander Jason Haverson." The woman said.

"But that can't be right. I'm still Lieutenant. Are you trying to say I got promoted?" Haverson said, flustered.

"Well, the paperwork is still processing, but it's official." Hawk pulls out a little box with a windowed lid on it. "As of this moment, let it be known that Lieutenant Jason Haverson, GDI Command, now assumes the rank of Commander. Well done Haverson. Now you better get your new rank insignia on, otherwise I might have to write you up for being out of uniform."

Haverson adds the new bar to his collar. He now has two silver and one black bar on his collar. Hawk has two silver and one copper on hers, signifying her Lieutenant Commander rank.

"Now that the promotion's aside, I think I should summarize why I'm here. There's been a change of plans for your outfit. Instead of you dealing with Australia, GDI has seen fit, after reviewing your outfit's combat record, to send you to Eastern Europe to deal directly with Nod, on Nod's territory. This mission will reach its climax with the destruction of Temple Prime. However, we shouldn't talk about the details out in the open. Let's get inside out of the open.

Haverson escorts Hawk to her quarters in the Command Center, which maintenance has seen fit to prepare. The guards, however, escort the mysterious little prune-man to the brig, in the cuffs that once detained Akane.

-/0\-

2 days later

Everyone who was at the last debriefing once again are in a meeting room, awaiting their debriefing, and the briefing for the next sortie.

"Attention on deck." All the soldiers snap a salute as Haverson and Hawk enter the room.

"At ease men. Today, we have Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Hawk from GDI Intelligence Operations here to go over the data from the last sortie, and to brief us on our next operation. Hawk, you have the floor."

"Thank you Commander. This last week, your performance on the field was incredible. You showed bravery in the growing face of danger. From the data we have collected on Nod's actions, we are able to predict their next moves. The data from the Casabad Research Facility was invaluable, as was the information we managed to grab from Alexandria, and from Cairo as well. This information includes Nod's troop movements and weapon developments. I will go over the information soon, but first, a look at the missions. Would Ranma Saotome and Ukyo Kuonji please stand as I review your performance?"

Ranma and Ukyo stand up, hardly at attention. "Your performance in Casabad was…interesting. Both of you use a mix of weaponry that wasn't made by GDI, rather modified by GDI. I have your technical information here with me. You could have handled the mission better, like actually taking rifles out with you. Ukyo, you had the best performance, having not attacked three of our finest soldiers when they snuck up on you. You also took on a lance of Flame Tanks single-handedly. You also managed to extract the data from the research facility before it was destroyed. Ranma, you had your moments too. Single-handedly destroying an entire Nod outpost is no easy feat you know. However, you lack a certain…finesse…that's made up for by your friends. You two may sit. Next, Akane and Ryouga."

Ranma and Ukyo sit down, disgusted at Hawk for the performance review. Akane and Ryouga step up to bite the bullet next.

"Your job was to destroy the Nod facility at Alexandria, not to gag Nod with your lovey dovey. I almost went into sugar shock. Next time you wanna do that, do it where a satellite can't see it, and where a comm line isn't open. Now, as for the mission, you two did a good job eliminating the Port Authority building that you did get to. Other than that, your performance was lack-luster. If your performance doesn't improve, you're getting a task better suited for a nugget. Now is Shampoo and Mousse here?"

Akane and Ryouga sit down, looking at each other. Their faces clearly say 'She's a goner.' Shampoo and Mousse stand up next.

"Your performance was by far the best in the entire group. Mousse, your acquisition of the stealth technology was an asset to this mission. Well done taking out the silo, and for acquiring the plans for Nod's newest mobile weapon platform, the Avatar Warmech. With these, we can identify weak points in the armor, and easily utilize them. Shampoo, although your style was a little…aggressive…it was your actions that shut down base power, and delayed the missile launch long enough for Mousse to destroy the silo and also allow the main armor division to destroy the rest of the base."

Shampoo and Mousse sit down, happier than the rest of the group.

"Nabiki, I'm amazed at your performance record. Your flawless attack plans even rival some of Haverson's plans. It says here that in your tour of duty, not a single man was lost while under your command; I hope that record continues for the sake of GDI. Now, for your next mission."

Hawk pulls up a map of a certain region. "Your next mission takes you to Nod's porch. You will be heading to Eastern Europe next. The first operation will be supporting the GDI base at Croatia. The base is due to come under attack in three days according to the info gathered from the Nod bases here. After Croatia Base is secured, and the area Nod forces eliminated, you will take a small detachment of forces to Albania, where Nod's main supply cache is located. It is here that Nod keeps row upon row upon row of Stealth, Flame, and Scorpion tanks. Satellite imagery has confirmed this information. If Croatia wasn't going to come under attack for another 5 days or so, I'd say strike Albania first. But as it is, Nod's plans are set in stone, what with the way Kane works. On that note, your last mission is in Sarajevo. It is here that Nod's Temple Prime is located. Take out the Temple, and we take out Nod, and their new Liquid Tiberium Bomb. Infrared imagery shows that the base is protected by a triple layer defense; there's a slight problem though in attacking the base. We've recently regained control of the Ion Cannon defense network, but we haven't been able to target Temple Prime. Satellite scans reveal three structures generating a unique disruption field that prevents targeting with the Ion Cannon. You need to send in an MCV and establish a forward base. With the base, you will take out the base and the disruption field generators, then call in for an Ion Cannon Strike to destroy Temple Prime and Nod's newest weapon."

All of a sudden, gears clicked in Ranma's head; the same gears clicked in Kasumi's head as well, who was at the meeting with the group, taking notes for Haverson. 'Everything fits now; that weird dream WAS a premonition. That land profile was what that beam of light, probably the Ion Cannon, was hitting, and the explosion…the green explosion…'

Ranma and Kasumi both blurt out "THAT WAS SARAJEVO!!!"

Hawk looks at them funny. "Come again?"

"Oh, sorry, just…thinking to myself."

Haverson and Nabiki, however, know what Ranma and Kasumi were referring to, and exchange shocked looks. "Hawk, would it be possible to, oh I don't know, CAPTURE Temple Prime, and gain access to all of Nod's plans, as well as their technology?"

Hawk looks back at Haverson with a puzzled look on her face. "You can try, but you can't capture it, I'm ordering the strike myself. Well, that is all. Dismissed."

Everyone gets up and leaves for their quarters to prepare for the move to the Eastern Europe GDI Operations Center.

Hawk, meanwhile, holds Haverson back and questions him about the outburst.

Haverson explains about the nightmare that Ranma and Kasumi both had. Hawk listens intently. "Hm, if what you're saying is true, which I highly doubt, considering the source, then we can't strike the Tiberium Bomb with the Ion Cannon. However…if you can't capture Temple Prime, I stand by what I said earlier, and I WILL order an Ion Cannon Strike."

Haverson sighs in defeat. "Very well."

-/0\--/0\-

Akane's dying a slow and painful death. I'm not saying how long, but…let's face it; she's a goner.

Hawk…is…a…bitch…yes I know…InOps, they follow the book. Hawk, is InOps; therefore, Hawk follows the book.

And the shriveled prune? Well…just wait and see…

Preview: Act 3 begins with a bang, oh and a little martial mayhem.


	13. Act 3 Prologue

Command and Ranma Act 3 Prologue

Author Notes: Act 3. What should be the grand finale. Haverson may have diverted a catastrophe, but who knows what's in store. Will the Ion Cannon fire at Sarajevo? Will Akane die before the end? Will everyone get home safe and sound?

Hm…good question.

I mentioned a couple technologies in the last chapter, and now's as good a time as any to explain further on them.

Nod Ion Cannon Disruption Tech

Nod deploying Ion Cannon Disruption Technology

GDI's orbital Ion Cannon battle stations have been offline ever since the attack on Goddard Space Centre. Repairs have now been completed and the Ion Cannons are back in action. However, we are currently unable to strike certain targets due to Nod's deployment of a new countermeasure: Ion Cannon Disruptor Arrays. These structures have been erected in multiple locations.

All Field Commanders should be aware of the existence of Ion Cannon Disruption Technology and be on the lookout for the Disruptor Array Structures. Take out the Disruptors with conventional weapons before you call in an Ion Cannon strike.

Nod Avatar Walker

Powerful, resilient, effective, and frightening: The Nod Avatar Walker

Nod has rocketed ahead of GDI in the race to build mechanized Combat Walkers - solving many of the problems that had GDI engineers scratching their heads. There is speculation that Nod stole the original Walker technology from GDI, and then took advantage of research in other areas to accelerate the development of new prototypes. Regardless of the origin of Nod's technology, they have invested years of Research and Development at a ruthlessly fast pace - and now Nod has finally fielded a highly advanced bipedal walker with the adaptive ability to use multiple weapon systems. The Avatar Walker is a very capable all-terrain weapons platform, heavily armored and equipped with a powerful laser. It can also be outfitted with Flame Throwers, Particle Beam Cannons, Stealth Detectors, and Stealth Generators

-/0\--/0\-

The transports carrying Haverson's task force land at the GDI Base known as Phoenix.

"Well, here we are at Phoenix Base. In the last Tiberium War, this base was where our sonic tech research was conducted. Soon after the war ended, this base became the regional command center. When we land, we need to get briefed on what we're up against in the first op. Nod's already struck Croatia, and the commander on site is still running defense there. No telling how long the base will last."

The transports land, and the task force head into the Command Post. Haverson gets acquainted with his new command staff, and Nabiki takes up her usual post: Battlefield Control.

"For the first op, Ranma, Shampoo, and Ukyo will deploy. We need the three of you to deal with the three outposts in the area. The problem with the area is that the Croatia base is in the middle of the heat. You three will deploy with the replacement MCV that we are sending out. The intel we currently have on the area is this: Nod's three outposts are highly specialized in their assaults. The southwest is where Nod's troops are coming from; the northeast is where the ground armor is coming from, and the southeast is where the air assaults are coming from. The base doesn't have enough power plants to provide energy for all of the base defenses, so he's being forced to improvise based on what he's got on hand. He's deployed his infantry into foxholes. Riflemen foxholes are concentrated to the south and west of the base, rocket soldiers to the north and east. APC's with Riflemen are supplementing the anti-infantry, and APC's with Rocket squads and Predators supplement anti-vehicle and the occasional anti-air."

Nabiki thinks over the information presented. "If Nod fields their Flame Tanks, the base will be overrun in no time. How many Predators are in the line?"

"There are five Predator Tanks in each line. The Foxholes are set up next to the actual base defenses. As a result of the line, fewer defenses need to be online, and power is reserved for crucial moments. Thankfully, the Refinery didn't get destroyed. You deploy in 45 minutes with the reinforcements. Get in your gear and get going."

-/0\--/0\-

First interrupt. I know it's kinda sudden thrusting people into battle, but the base DID get hit recently, and they need reinforcements bad. But I will make the most out of the 45 minutes to deployment. Kinda like DBZ, only without all the drama of 20 episodes covering 5 minutes.

-/0\--/0\-

Ukyo goes to be with Ryouga. Ranma goes to the training field with his gear, and Akane goes to get a checkup with Dr. Mort, when she starts coughing, bad. Her coughing refuses to let up. A passing rifleman sees this and calls out "MEDICAL EMERGENCY AT THE COMMAND POST." Two medics carrying a stretcher inject Akane with a relaxant, and load her onto the stretcher to take her to Mort.

-/0\-

Mort is in the medical bay in the Phoenix Armory, admiring the medical scanners and such that Phoenix has perfected when a pair of medics enter carrying Akane on the stretcher between them. They transfer her onto a table. "Sir, she was outside the Command Post with a coughing fit. One of the soldiers found her."

"That'll be all. Thank you for bringing her as soon as you could."

Mort picks up one of the analyzers and starts sweeping it over Akane, focusing on her chest. "Hm…I didn't think it could get this bad so quickly, but…she has been exerting herself quite a bit recently, what with her training and all. Unless I do something quick, it's all over. I wonder though if that would work. It's risky, but if we don't do something quick…"

Mort walks back over to the table that the instrument and heads into his office to look over a study he's been reading. He skims it real well, and walks into the storage area. He comes back out with a strange looking machine, similar to the Sonic Emitters surrounding Phoenix designed to neutralize Tiberium. He positions it over Akane's lungs, and fine tunes the machine.

"Um sir…that device hasn't been tested yet on people. What exactly are you…" One of the medics start.

Mort interjects. "Prep yourselves for surgery yesterday. We need to pull Tiberium shards out of her lungs."

Mort turns to Akane, grabbing a mask connected to a tank of anesthetic on his way. "Akane, there is a way to save you, but it's very risky. Do you trust me?"

Akane feebly nods her head, and the mask is placed on her face. In a few seconds, she goes unconscious.

Mort finishes calibrating the machine, and activates it. The area is filled with a sonic shriek that would put a Banshee to shame. After about 30 seconds, the machine switches off, and the room goes quiet.

Mort and the two medics wheel Akane into what looks like an operating room, and prep for surgery.

"Now that the tiberium's been neutralized, we need to remove the shards from her lungs and then patch her up. I believe you two were properly trained for this?"

"Yes sir. All medics are trained for field surgery."

-/0\-

Ranma is on the training field, perfecting his Moko Takabisha technique so that it takes less time to prep, yet does more damage. He witnesses Shampoo coming onto practice, holding her katana. Around her are scrap shards of armor from the Mammoth Tanks. She draws Sanryu, and a sonic shriek is heard emanating from the sword as she puts the sword in motion. The sword comes down through one, two, three shards of armor with almost no effort. The armor shards split into two, then four, then 16 fragments. Ranma has a touch of trouble following the sword's movements. He notices that Shampoo is failing to notice the shard behinds her, and directs his already-formed ki projectile toward it. It vaporizes on contact, and Shampoo notices Ranma for the first time. She walks over to him, sheathing Sanryu. Ranma tries to step back as Shampoo is getting a little close for comfort.

All of a sudden, Shampoo leaps, glomps Ranma, and they both fall in a conveniently located puddle of water. Shampoo, now a cat, walks away slightly pleased, while Ranma is at a loss as to what just happened.

-/0\-

Ryouga in the meantime, is spending a little quality time with Ukyo.

"Ryouga, if we get out of this, I want you for good."

They then resume their "quality time"

-/0\-

30 minutes later

Mort finishes up with Akane, having done the best that 2047 medical science can do.

"All right, close her up. We've done it. She's going to live. Now the rest is up to her."

Mort walks off, ripping off his gloves in the process and tossing them in a biohazard waste can. The waste can, also containing the neutralized Tiberium, will be placed in Hazard Storage Phi, 10 floors down, where it will be scheduled for destruction.

Mort informs Haverson of Akane's surgery so that she can be pulled from the next op.

-/0\-

Ranma is getting his suit on, checking everything as he goes. Ranma may not be much of a military person, but even he knows as well as the next person that if his equipment doesn't work, then it's simply a hindrance. Ryouga is doing the same thing, having just gotten back to get his gear on. Ranma finishes his check, and starts getting his gear on.

First he gets the leggings on, followed by the boots. The armor recently got back from the armory. Johnson, having improved on the design, added environmental seals to the suit's various connection points. Ranma puts one of the boots on, and gives the area where the boot meets the legging a good squeeze, followed by a counter-clockwise twist. A click is heard, meaning the seal was engaged. He repeats this with the right foot, only with a clockwise twist. He then gets his chest under layer on. This layer was added recently as a heat-dissipating measure, as it is lined with mini coolant lines. The coolant cycles through the chest armor's backpack, where the heat is removed and the coolant is pumped back through the armor. Body sensors on the body monitor the temperature, and the armor's computer automatically adjusts the coolant flow, depending on the exertion level of the wearer. Ranma then gets the chest armor on, and connects the under layer to the backpack. He then gets the sleeves on, and hooks up the water feed lines to the backpack as well, while engaging the seals. Ranma then gets the helmet on and seals it to check the systems, then removes the helmet again.

Ranma then heads topside, while Ryouga goes to do the same thing.

-/0\-

Ranma and Ryouga meet up with Ukyo and Nabiki, who is boarding the MCV when she looks back.

"Oh hey guys, I'm coming out as well to give the field commander a hand with the base."

"Oh, ok Nabiki."

The rest of the group climb onto various points of the MCV to provide fire support.

-/0\--/0\-

Note: Medical science of 2047 is quite advanced compared to today. As such, sound has been applied medically, as well as operations in the lungs themselves…also, Tiberium poisoning is reversible as long as it is caught early enough. The lungs hadn't turned green at that point, nor did Akane cough up blood. If she had…ok off this topic.

Ukyo wants Ryouga, BAD!!!

Ranma still doesn't show a thing of course, and Shampoo's the same as always…

Preview: The three-way battle from heck. And Kane shows his face to greet GDI and welcome them to their so-called doom, but not quite in person.


	14. Mission 8: Croatia

Command and Ranma GDI: Croatia

Author Notes: The last chapter cut into this one just a little.

More like a lead-in

Also, a new character is coming in. That's the GDI Commander who was sent to Croatia by GDI InOps to help handle Eastern Europe's Croatia Base.

What makes this mission harder for Nabiki is that she's always either started fresh, or started full. She's gotta adapt from a near-lost state and turn things around real quick.

But then again, if I could manage, then so can Nabiki

Oh yeah, one more thing: the strategy deployed on this mission to defend the base from Nod's three-way attack, was the one that got me through the mission on the campaign. Took four run-throughs to figure it out.

Power Management

Incoming Tech Message 

Emergency Engineering Report

Warrant Officer S. Bowen

GDI Forward Operation Base "Echo-2"

Croatia

SBowenMonkeyWrench: Power Plants are down and our base grid is compromised - there just isn't enough juice to keep everything running at the same time. The only way you're going to keep those defenses online is to power down anything you're not using. If you shut down half of the base defenses, we should be able to squeeze enough power to keep the other half online. If one of the active defenses gets destroyed, it won't draw power, so you can turn on another defense to take over. You may also need to shut down defenses that aren't active to re-route power to guns and turrets that are under immediate threat. Juggling power under fire is the key to survival here.

Again, my strategy wasn't to keep cycling between the fixed defenses, but rather deploy mobile defenses and foxholes with the appropriate troops inside. Worked until the flame units started coming…then I needed to turn on surface defenses. Oh yeah, the Vertigo Bombers are annoying. Not much can destroy a Mammoth Tank, but the Vertigo is a quick strike weapon platform that hits like a sledgehammer. Only two are needed to take out a Mammoth in one hit.

War Factory Repair Drones

Capability Update

Everyone knows that War Factories build vehicles. But did you know that a War Factory can also perform repairs? War Factories have been upgraded with autonomous repair drones that can perform even the most complex repairs to severely damaged vehicles in a very short period of time. How does it work? Just get close. Vehicle crews in damaged tanks, APC and Buggies should bring their vehicles back to the War Factory and the drones will begin repair operations when the vehicles are in proximity to the factory structure.

-/0\--/0\-

Croatia Base

The on-site GDI Commander is busy setting up the defense grid to repel the Nod invaders. He's got to hold out for five minutes, when the reinforcements from European Command are scheduled to arrive.

"I need the following defenses set up to supplement the fixed defenses. Along the south will be 6 foxholes with 2 riflemen squads each. Same for the west entrance. The North will have the same amount of foxholes, only with rocket soldiers in each bunker. That goes for the eastern entrance as well. Deploy APC's to each entrance; riflemen to the southwest, rocket soldiers to the northeast. Also, deploy Predators to the northeast. Sporadically place Pitbulls around the AA Defenses, and switch them on. Prepare for assault.

-/0\-

The reinforcements, which consist of the MCV, two Predators, two APC's, and two Pitbulls, as well as various infantry, roll through the city at a leisurely pace. Nabiki's established an uplink with Croatia Base, and currently has the base centered on her display. She notices that the commander has placed his defenses well.

"All right people, five minutes to arrival in the combat area. Start priming your weapons. This is Nod country, and they probably have a surprise waiting for us." Nabiki said over the squad-comm.

"Yes ma'am." Everyone said.

The Predator tank crews starting arming the first round; APC crews load up the ammo belts for the main gun; Pitbull crews lock in the first missile pack, and begin active scanning for any surprises. Meanwhile, the infantry slam the first clips for their rifles, and the first rockets for their launchers home in their respective weapons. Ranma enters a meditative state; Ryouga checks his weapons, and also enters a meditative state. Ukyo, however, is whipping up a new tempura batch with an explosive secret to it.

"2 minutes to engagement."

-/0\-

The Croatia base has so far repelled the relentless assault, when the comm line all of a sudden opens up for all the GDI forces in the region. It's Kane.

"Forces of GDI, I am Kane. This isn't one of your precious blue zones. Your on our turf now. Leave, and your death shall be painless."

The comm line closes afterward. The countdown continues to roll when a large heat signature is detected from the north. "SIR, FLAME TANKS!!!"

"All forces, stand by to repel Flame and possibly Stealth Tank assaults. Infantry, stand by to repel Black Hand."

-/0\-

The MCV begins rolling into the engagement area. They are 30 seconds away from a courtyard. The Pitbulls pulled ahead to make sure the area was secure. They come across a road block slightly ahead of the courtyard. "Ma'am, the road's been blocked. We need to find another way around. Let's head back to that courtyard."

As the Pitbulls turn the corner and head across the courtyard, three Laser Turrets pop up and destroy the Pitbulls. Also, new garrison's are detected.

"Croatia Base, this is Reinforcement Group Alpha. We are pinned down and need assistance at the earliest possible moment. I repeat: we are pinned down. Send aid."

Nabiki sends the distress signal, and gets on the line with her friends. "Guys, see what you can do about those garrisons. Be careful though; don't let the Laser Turrets catch you."

Ranma, Ryouga, and Ukyo all disembark from the MCV, and start diving from building to building, moving to the first garrison to clear it out.

-/0\-

Back at Croatia, the GDI Commander received the distress signal, and is preparing a rescue team to recover the MCV and bring it back to base in one piece. He first reinforces the defenses, and then prepares 11 APC's with Riflemen, and one more with Grenadiers to go retrieve the reinforcement convoy. He also includes three Pitbulls to deal with the turret hub. He relegates the task of commanding the rescue op to one of his sub-commanders, then gets back to coordinating the base defenses.

-/0\-

Haverson continues to monitor the situation from his command center. Nod continues to mount an ever-growing offensive. The GDI base hasn't dispatched a recovery team yet, but is instead focusing on making sure the base doesn't fall before Nod's influence in the area. More importantly, what is worrying Haverson is Kane himself. To openly state that they will die painlessly if they leave leaves Haverson at a standstill. However, his orders stand. He is to destroy Nod's primary base of operations, starting with the defense of Croatia.

-/0\-

Ranma begins to climb up the stairs of the first structure, being careful to stay away from the courtyard-facing windows. He clears out the 30 or so soldiers inside preventing the convoy from advancing. Ukyo does the same in the second structure, and Ryouga formulates a plan to take out the turret cluster. He begins to glow with the golden aura of the Shi Shi Hokodan, and focuses his power to his palm. He's ducked in and out of the cover to test the turret's lock time, and has built his plan from that information. He finishes preparing the attack, ducks out of cover, fires the projectile, and then quickly gets back behind the building. He hears an explosion, followed quickly by three more explosions. He begins to move on the remaining garrisons that Ranma and Ukyo aren't taking care of.

-/0\-

The rescue force departs from the base, and crosses the bridge. They then proceed north, garrisoning structures along the way that would secure the route back. The rescue force hooks up with the convoy, although a little disappointed that there was no action.

"Ma'am, we've come to escort you back to base. We've garrisoned some structures along the chosen route. We need to get back to base ASAP so that we can mount a counter-offensive. They've started deploying Vertigo Bombers. Our defenses can't take anymore of a beating."

Nabiki signals to the driver to get the convoy moving. Ranma, Ukyo, and Ryouga, having finished their task, remount on top of the MCV.

The convoy begins to move to the base.

-/0\-

Back at the base, the attacks continue to get worse. Two of the bunkers were eliminated and replaced on both fronts; one of the AA Turrets is the target of some harassment from a Nod bomber, and has thus come very close to destruction four times. The commander is starting to get a little frazzled that the reinforcements haven't arrived, when one of the command personnel looks out at the bridge.

"SIR, THE MCV'S ARRIVED. I heard from command that another commander is onboard and came to help us mount the counter-offensive."

"Well it's about time. Go meet the MCV and get the ConYard set up. We need to rebuild NOW. I want a Tech Center and an Airfield ASAP."

"Yes sir."

-/0\-

Nabiki dismounts from the MCV and heads into the command center. One of the sub-commanders came out to greet her and get her inside. She gets to the command center where she meets up with the commander in charge.

"Ma'am, Commander Wingate at your service. I was tasked with the operation of the GDI Croatia Base in the upcoming assault against Temple Prime."

"Very well. Once the MCV is deployed, build a Crane, Power Plant, a Tech Center, an Airfield, and reinforce the base defenses with more of the same."

Nabiki gets on the line with Haverson.

-/0\-

"Very good. You may begin the strike when ready. Be careful though. Intel has each base defended by a large number of turrets, and the airfield to your southeast is guarded by an Elite Cadre of vehicles, so landing an assault force is out. Be careful. Haverson out."

-/0\-

Nabiki started formulating a plan of attack to take out the three outposts. She needs to pit each bases weakness against the base. The real problem was with the air base to the southeast. With no direct path onto the plateau, her only option was an airlift. The problem was what is waiting for the air brigades. She sent a scout Orca to the base, but it got shot down by anti-air, but it didn't get shot down at a little outcropping to the north of the base. The problem was that she caught site of a Flame Tank ready to destroy any ground forces that land and approach the base. She had one of two options: swarm the base with vehicles and pray, or swarm the base with Orca's and hit the Air Towers and pray that they all don't get eliminated before the towers fall.

She builds up some test forces to test the viability of both plans. Five minutes later, she decides on a plan.

"Barracks, deploy an engineer to the Nod construction yard and capture it. We need Nod's air power to fight Nod's air power."

"Mechanized Infantry, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT destroy the Nod Construction Yard. We will capture it to assist in the destruction of the Nod airbase."

-/0\-

Ranma, Ukyo, and Ryouga finished getting briefed on their assignments. It's been decided that Ukyo will handle the infantry base, with Ranma and Ryouga destroying the vehicle base. Nabiki formulated a special plan for taking out the airbase that doesn't involve anyone.

Ukyo finished checking her gear, then moved out to meet up with her APC. Ranma and Ryouga also finished checking their gear, then went to go rush in with the other infantry, and the Mammoth Tanks, and take out the vehicle base.

Nabiki on the other hand is awaiting the uplink with the Nod facilities to put her plan into action. And considering technically her orders were to neutralize all the bases, with no mention of destroying them, she was free to remove the threat anyway she deemed necessary. And if it meant capturing the base and using Nod's tech against them, well so be it.

-/0\-

Ukyo's group came under limited, but harassing, fire from the base defenses. But considering the Shredder Turrets are anti-infantry, they are rendered useless against the vehicle's armor. The APC's got closer, and the infantry continued to fall under the combined power of the APC's minigun, and the infantry inside. The APC's containing Ukyo and the engineer assigned to the squad approach the Construction Yard, and they both disembarked. Ukyo entered ahead of the engineer to clear a path to the MCT. The engineer established a link to the local Command Post, and the internal construction area began work on a structure, even while the original base continued to be destroyed by the forces. Soon only the Yard remained, bearing GDI colors, and deploying Nod structures to be used against Nod. Nabiki came on the line.

"I always like to bring a little irony into the fight whenever I can. I've programmed the internal construction bots to build up at least one of each structure. My plan is to send Vertigo Bombers to take out the airbase where Nod's Vertigo Bombers are stationed. The Ground-Pounder munitions are strong enough to take out one of our Mammoth's when used in pairs, so I figure send a flight squad of Vertigos against the Air Towers. Two to each of the two towers should do the trick." Nabiki said, having thought the plan through thoroughly.

-/0\-

Ranma and Ryouga in the meantime are having a blast blasting their Nod base away. Although the Lasers were annoying, they preferred to attack the thick armor hide of the Mammoths instead of a fleshy being like the two martial artists. While the turrets were distracted, the martial artists vaporized the turret hubs with their ki techniques.

In no time, the base falls under the power of the Mammoth Tanks. They notice bombers taking off from the direction of the infantry base, and then the bombers disappear. 30 seconds later, massive explosions are seen from the direction of the last Nod base, culminating in the Air Towers falling. Over the comm line came Nabiki's voice. "Mission Accomplished. Ranma, Ukyo, Ryouga, I'm deploying transports to pick us up and take us back to command."

-/0\-

Nabiki closes the comm line and turns to Wingate. "Well commander, I wish you the best of luck in upcoming engagements. I hope that I can work with you in Sarajevo."

Nabiki leaves the building and boards her Ox.

-/0\--/0\-

That one line I used, "I like to bring a little irony to the fight", was used in Half-Life 2, ©Valve 2004-2007

Don't sue. It felt right going there.

Oh yeah, that IS what I did to complete the mission; I captured the Nod ConYard and used Nod's tech against Nod. Ironic, isn't it?

Preview: fireworks; lots and lots of fireworks.


	15. Mission 9: Albania

Command and Ranma GDI: Albania

Author Notes: Working with a new toy here: portable apps. Talk about nearly invisible working.

Anyways, I decided to let Akane live. Although she's still recuperating, she is on a bullet train to recovery. On that note, today's lineup is going to be Ukyo again with Shampoo. Ukyo and Shampoo seem to be the best options here. Ukyo's battle spatula can now cut through several layers of armor with a sonic slash, and Shampoo adds an elegant grace to total annihilation, which is the call here.

Rig Deployment Into a Forward Base

GDI Field Manual - Holding the Line

GDI Field Commanders in some Forward Bases have access to one of the most unique power projection systems in the world: The Rig. The Rig is a vehicle that is designed to roll deep into enemy territory and quickly deploy into a heavily armed Battle Base Structure. Equipped with Guardian Cannons and a Missile Launcher, the Battle Base is capable of engaging enemy vehicles and aircraft. As an added bonus, Rigs carry a complement of auto-drones for making field repairs to GDI vehicles. The Rig/Battle Base Combination is ideal for claiming and holding terrain, enabling GDI Field Commanders to employ a classic "Clear and Hold" strategy for securing Tiberium Fields or gradually taking over an objective area.

Firehawk Attack Jets

TacOps Field Guide: Firehawk

The Firehawk is a fast and highly maneuverable VTOL attack jet that can carry air-to-ground or air-to-air missiles. Field Commanders can make their load-out choices while the Firehawk is on the pad at an Airfield. Forward Bases with a Tech Center structure can equip Firehawks with special rocket boosters that allow the aircraft to punch into the Stratosphere and go near-orbital in order to hop over enemy air defenses. Note that Firehawks are vulnerable to AA Fire in the actual target zone during the Re-Entry after the boost phase.

-/0\--/0\-

The base is a blur of activity, as personnel are preparing for the assault on Nod's supply base located at Albania. Rigs, APC's, Pitbulls, and Predators are getting loaded up onto the transports to be air lifted to the mission zone. Infantry are also running around trying to get to their transports.

-/0\-

In the command center, Nabiki is reviewing satellite scans of the mission area. "Hm...row upon row of Flame Tanks, Stealth Tanks, and Scorpion Tanks. If they were to mobilize now, we wouldn't stand a chance, no matter HOW good our defenses are. I'm choosing to deploy our fast disposal people. Ukyo and Shampoo are to participate on the mission. Include them in the loadout. Here's the plan: Our entrance into the base is a bridge. Below the bridge is a checkpoint and a forward vehicle production base. We need to destroy the checkpoint before we can bring in reinforcements. Two Riflemen and two Missile squads will be the initial force. 4 Predators, 4 APC's, 4 engineers, 2 Pitbulls, as well as Ukyo and Shampoo will all be the reinforcements. The way I see it is that with the outpost down they won't be able to detect the assault team, which will also have a Rig with them for vehicle repairs and a little extra firepower in a pinch. Since the only way into the base is via this bridge here, we need to make sure they don't see us coming. They could just as easily blow the bridge. forcing us to use one of the engineers. Nod also has a vehicle outpost to the southwest of the base. We will want to destroy that in order to protect the flank of the force. Once inside the base, it will be in our best interest to take this Reinforcement bay to the west. Once we take it we can deploy two mobile airfields with Firehawks, as well as a couple Mammoths and a few other vehicles to bolster the force. The Firehawks will be tasked with destroying the area's Obelisks so that our scrub force can take out the supply base."

Haverson thinks over the plan in his head as it is said. "How much time did you have to think this over exactly?"

Nabiki puts a smile on her face as she replies. "Oh about 5 minutes"

-/0\-

The Ox transports had unloaded their cargo, and two Riflemen and two Missile Squads began to move toward the outpost, which was a Laser Turret hub and a Hand of Nod, along with two infantry squads.

The Riflemen went ahead of the Missile Squads to eliminate the infantry, then parked themselves outside the Hand to intercept new infantry squads, while the Missile Squads made short work of the turret hub, then the Hand of Nod.

Then the main assault force rolled in, including Ukyo and Shampoo. "Ok people, listen up. Your next objective is to the west. There's a Nod War Factory there that needs to be eliminated. Along the way you will see the one way into the Nod compound: the one bridge into the area. Once the War Factory is destroyed, we will move on the bridge and proceed to the next objective." Nabiki said over the comm line.

"Copy that Nabiki. I will take charge of the forces down here." Ukyo replied. Mission information began downloading into her helmet display.

"OK, PEOPLE; WE'RE MOVING WEST TO THE NEXT OBJECTIVE. MOVE OUT!" Ukyo shouted to the assault team.

Quakes were felt in the immediate vicinity as all the vehicles and infantry moved west to the next objective to eliminate it.

-/0\-

Nabiki monitored the engagement has her plan came together with ease. She did notice something odd on the battlefield: a Raider Buggy moving across the bridge. The team comm picked up the phrase "Blow the bridge."

She clicked open the comm. "Stay away from the bridge." Nabiki said as the bridge was engulfed in a fireball.

'That could complicate things just a touch.' "The Engineers should stay with the Rig at the bridge. The Rig should deploy and offer repair facilities as well as some protection against attack." Nabiki said over the comm line.

-/0\-

Akane woke up in the medical bay, having just come out of a restorative meditative sleep. She feels a little groggy, having been asleep for the past three days while her body healed itself.

Mort comes in to do a final checkup on her. He runs various tests that are standard to a checkup, and gives her the green light.

She gets up, and puts on a uniform provided by the Armory. Her clothes were disposed of, mainly to prevent further Tiberium contamination. Akane puts the uniform on, discovering it actually fits well, and heads up to the command center to be brought up to speed on the state of things.

-/0\-

Ranma is on the observation deck staring out into the distance, in the general direction. Last night, he had the premonition again, warning what would happen if the Ion Cannon was allowed to fire. Only it flashed forward to include the Ion Cannons firing at strange ships heading toward Earth. He can't help but wonder what they've gotten themselves into. He decides to make sure his armor's ready for Sarajevo with a Trial by Fur.

-/0\-

Akane, having been out of it for the past four days or so, decides to get in a little training. She gears up and heads out to the practice field, when she notices Ranma having what looks like a seizure. Then he gets down on all fours and starts hissing all of a sudden. Akane, having seen the Nekoken before, takes her helmet off so that Ranma would recognize her.

-/0\-

Meanwhile, the assault team finished fighting their way to the first reinforcement bay, and have established a defense line so that Nod has a hard time destroying the force. An Engineer captures the bay, and a GDI Heavy Lifter deploys a pod with reinforcements, including a pair of specially modified Rigs, designed to deploy as Airfields. Firehawks are circling above the deployment site. They land when the Airfields are finished unpacking, and load up with the Rattlesnake AtA missiles and the Hellcat Ground Pounders, then take off to eliminate the northern Air Tower as well as the Venom defense force. An engineer, along with Shampoo, deploy to take the north-eastern Reinforcement Bay. The Firehawks armed with the Hellcats take out the Air Tower with no effort involved, and the Venom's are eliminated by the Rattlesnake-equipped Firehawks. All of them return to base and load up with Hellcats to start hitting the Obelisks that hinder movement through the region.

-/0\-

There's a problem on the training field. Ranma's armor isn't neutralizing the Nekoken. Akane's voice is heard as she's calling for Ranma. He hears it, assesses where and who the call is coming from, and starts bounding toward Akane. All the soldiers who were running combat drills had long since fled the field in fright, and also in shock over the person-gone-cat. Akane collapses to the ground as Ranma barrels into her. He curls up into a little ball, then falls asleep. Akane looks at the backpack, and notices that the water supply is empty.

-/0\-

Reinforcements continue to fill into the area, with the third and final reinforcement bay having been taken.Shampoo begins her graceful dance of destruction. Anything standing in her way is instantly sliced and killed and cut in half. Death and destruction trail her like a love-sick dog, as row upon row of vehicles are destroyed. Any Nod soldier who survives the onslaught of Amazon destruction promptly drops their weapon and surrenders to the trailing GDI forces running cleanup duty. One of the soldiers comments on how easy this is. "Who knew we had this much firepower? Now I don't have to do much anymore for this mission." However, that comment earned him a bonbori smash to the head, rendering him unconscious. She then resumes her destructive ways. Ukyo in the meantime is taking care of anything Shampoo might have missed, like the second pair of rows of vehicles. Soon, very soon, the only things with engines still in one piece are the GDI vehicles that were dispatched.

Transports were dispatched to pick up the force in the area.

-/0\--/0\-

Interrupt: the mission itself is short, but it's just a sweep-and-destroy op, who wants me to describe it, raise their hands

[looks out into the area; all is quiet except for the occasional cough

That's what I thought. The rest of the chapter is being devoted to the preparations for Sarajevo.

-/0\--/0\-

Akane placed Ranma in his quarters then went back out to train.

Shampoo was polishing her sword, and wiping the blood and grease from her armor.

Ukyo was whipping up a new batch of weapons.

Ryouga was trying to study a compass, a map, and still clean his armor all at the same time from when he accidentally took a dip in a mud puddle.

Mousse in the meantime was checking his stash. He was lent a storage warehouse for this purpose.

Kasumi was helping serve lunch for at least two hundred base personnel.

Nabiki in the meantime, was studying maps and charts of Sarajevo, and had all sorts of different-colored pins, both to the side and tacked onto the map of the mission area. Three semi-circles were drawn in the north-eastern corner of the map, both in black and red. Red transparency was overlaying the area. She continuously scans the reports gathered from the various Nod mainframes, and keeps placing push-pins onto the map. Eventually she is complete, and she has a list of what all the colors mean.

She decided to use red as the Obelisks, because to approach them would practically mean death, and black for structures. Black and red stacked on each other was an objective structure, and the red transparency was the field of effect for the Ion Cannon Disruption field.

She decides to input the data, and heads down to the simulators to test various strategies. She decides that this is her toughest mission of all: find a way to take out Temple Prime without using the Ion Cannon.

-/0\-

Haverson finished reviewing the new equipment that can be used at Sarajevo. The arsenal was expanded to include the Juggernaut Mobile Mechanized Artillery Platform. It's mounted on a chicken-walker-style mech chassis, and is equipped with three massive 200mm artillery guns. It was an impressive frame all right, but because GDI Command rushed completion and shipping for the assault on Sarajevo, it lacked the planned point defense system that was supposed to be on the final product. Nevertheless, the fact that sniper teams can send targeting data to the Juggernauts, and therefore increase the effective range ten-fold was good enough for Haverson and Nabiki.

-/0\-

Five hours later, Nabiki comes out of the simulator with a proud look on her face, having just found the perfect strategy. However, to make it work, she needs everyone, even Cologne, to deploy to Sarajevo. Even Kasumi, who would only really be for troop morale in the area, would have to deploy. A happy troop is an efficient troop after all, and efficiency is key to this engagement. Nabiki decides to go pay the Matriarch a visit.

-/0\-

Down in the detention center, the 50 or so guards are keeping an eye on the shriveled old prune named Happosai. He isn't looking too good, even though he's been given plenty of food and water. Mort came down to look at him, but even he doesn't know what's wrong with the master of the Anything Goes school of martial arts. They decide to get Cologne down to look at him, being of the same...origin as Happosai.

Haverson begins looking for the Matriarch, even as Nabiki is closing in and getting ready to snag the Matriarch into her plan.

-/0\--/0\-

Good place to end the chapter...with a cliffhanger.

Happosai's a tough old dog. He isn't going to die from Tiberium exposure. Plus y'know with his kind of lifestyle, one would definitely expect him to live this long.

So does Cologne help out with the mission? And what will happen at Sarajevo with Temple Prime? Prepare yourself for the two-part finale of Act 3...it's gonna be a knock-out.


	16. Mission 10: Sarajevo Prep

Command and Conquer GDI: Sarajevo Part 1

Author Notes:

Here it is. Sarajevo. The culmination of all of GDI's efforts, and their final stand against Kane. This chapter is the last one that follows the CnC3 GDI storyline.

Now in the game, GDI was forced to fire the Ion Cannon at Temple Prime. However, in the story, Nabiki developed a strategy that doesn't actually involve a direct firing on Temple Prime. What her strategy is, is unknown even to Haverson. However we do know that it involves Cologne in some way. However, what her involvement is, is unknown as well.

Also, no more tech entries from here on out.

I think you get the idea. If you need more info, just go look up a strategy guide, or play the game if your computer can handle it.

-/0\--/0\-

--EVA Database, uplink successful.--

--Initiating update...please stand by...--

--Transmitting, recieving, data acquired...--

--Welcome back Commander.--

--The following is an update on the GDI mission against Nod--

Nod's forces are nearing elimination. Thanks to one genius commander, Nod's forces stand at 85 eliminated. This commander's force stands ready to assault the region known as Sarajevo, where Nod's Temple Prime stands. The Ion Cannon satellite defense network is fully operational again, and stands ready to fire on Temple Prime. The region that is about to be attacked is a quarter-circular crater cleared away for Nod's base. Four access points for ground forces exist granting access to the crater. Each access point is guarded by a pair of Obelisks. Once inside the crater, there are two breaks in the large primary wall. Scattered across the top of the wall are hubless Sam Sites. At each entrance are more Obelisks, and possibly turret hubs. The outer base line consists primarily of non-essential structures, as well as a couple factory structures. The second base line consists of the tech structures, and a tiberium field. The inner core consists of the construction structures, the Temple of Nod superweapon center, Temple Prime, and the refineries, as well as primary reactors for the various Nod structures.

As of yet, this facility stands unphased against any and every attack we have launched. Satellite imagery also shows a Nod outpost to the southwest of the base that needs to be eliminated and replaced with a GDI staging area to launch the assault from.

--Update complete--

--Commence operation when ready--

The lights click on in the briefing room as the EVA update concludes for the command personnel running the Sarajevo operation, including Nabiki and Commander Wingate from Croatia Base.

Lieutenant Hawk of GDI InOps took her place at the front of the room and began the spoken briefing. "Commanders, this is all we know of Sarajevo. We don't know force size, or even the layout of the base in detail. However we do know that they are capable of repelling a major offensive. They've managed to eliminate all 30 of our preliminary assault forces. A couple even mentioned amongst their screams of agony a giant robot. On one occasion, it was even noted that this robot, essentially, liberated a stealth module from a Stealth Tank, attached it to itself, then cloaked. It reappeared behind the force and eliminated it. We believe this to be the Avatar Mobile Multi-Weapons Platform. Although Nod's been deploying a reduced power version capable of commandeering the remaining modules from various vehicles. Through analysis of the blueprints of the Avatar and various other Nod vehicles, we've determined that the Avatar can gain the sensor module from the Attack Bike, the stealth module from the Stealth Tank, the flame module from the Flame Tank, and the secondary laser from the Beam Cannon. Once all the modules are attached, then the Avatar achieves final deployment state. However, it has one major weakness: it lacks anti-air capability. Until the flame module is attached, the Avatar is also susceptible to a commando approaching and blowing out the legs."

"We've tried sending scout aircraft through the area, but the minute we pass over the main wall of the base, the aircraft are locked onto, and shot down. The pilots are then killed on the spot by the Nod Confessors."

"Short of an all-out assault, we have no way of defeating Nod in the area. We can't fire the Ion Cannon due to the Ion Disrupters in place, and we can't send anything short of 30 Mammoth Tanks into the area. So we are moving in and establishing a base. It's the only way to take out Temple Prime and the surrounding base. Commander Nabiki has formulated a plan to take out Temple Prime's surrounding base, and even included _capturing_ Temple Prime. If this mission is a success, we can permanently cripple Nod for good. If this mission is a success, the war will be over."

"Gear up people. We make a move on Sarajevo in five days. The commanders assigned to the mission are Commanders Tendo, Wingate, and Haverson. Get your teams assembled."

The briefing concluded, and all of the commanders left for their bases.

-/0\-

Happosai, having no purpose in the area anymore, decided to skip town. He planned a bold escape, culminating in his return to Japan, which was recently reclaimed from the Tiberium.

When the guards brought him his food, among other things, he made his move and knocked out both the guards. He initiated the Umisenken and made it to the airfield, where he stole an Ox transport. He then proceeded to take off, when the AA Guns fired up and shot him down when he failed to identify himself. He quickly disappeared toward the Nod base to steal a Nod transport.

-/0\-

Throughout the base, there was an excited buzz of activity, as weapons are checked five times over, Mammoth Tanks are overhauled, and the Juggernaut schematics are turned into product and field tested. In the maintenance lab, Pitbulls are being refitted with mortar launchers and then sent to the field for gunnery crews to get in some practice. APC drivers are running through a gauntlet to hone their skills, and the Predator Tanks are torn down and every part inspected, and the schematics revised for new standards.

In the barracks and armory, all the firearms are being checked for discrepancies, and armor is overhauled for new versions. All of the infantry are going through some rigorous trials in order to be a part of Sarajevo. If one unit doesn't make the cut, they don't go to Sarajevo, and everyone suffers from the loss of firepower.

In the command center, Nabiki is in the process of dumping essential files to her PDA, including her mission plan. Haverson is doing the same, and Wingate is establishing a connection with Croatia's GDI base to also do the same. If Sarajevo is to go off without a hitch, then the commanders need their data on Nod so that they can counter any attack appropriately.

-/0\-

Ranma in the meantime is getting a psychological examination from Dr. Mort. It seems that Mort wanted a psyche profile of Ranma, considering all that's happened to Ranma throughout his life. Being on the road for 10+ years, the Nekoken training, the non-stop abuse of carrying your father and being thrown bound and gagged into a lake can do some untold things to a person.

Ranma is lying down on an MRI machine's bed, and his brain is being scanned for the first part of the profile. Mort continues to look at the scans of his brain. "Hm...very interesting indeed. Ranma, I'm going to transmit a few images to the screen in front of your face. Continue to lay perfectly still as you look at them."

Ranma confirms, and the images are transmitted. First one is of his dad. His MRI shows that Ranma's brain is registering anger. The next one is of Akane, which registers a peculiar result of a mix of fear and happiness. When the image cycles to his mother, he registers with safety. As a final test, he puts an image of a cat on the monitor for a split second, but that was all that was needed. In a split second, his brain registered extreme fear, and then Ranma was busting out of the MRI machine in a really big hurry.

"Ranma, it's okay now. The cat's gone. It's not going to hurt you." 'Hm...this reaction is the same one that I saw at Hampton Roads, right before he went Nekoken. So that's triggered by seeing a cat. I wonder...'

"OK Ranma, we have all the data we need. You can go now. Get some rest."

Ranma leaves as Mort gets Nabiki on the comm.

-/0\-

Akane is on the observation deck, leaning on the rail, just staring out into space. She can't help but wonder what's going to happen at Sarajevo, and what will happen afterwards. 'Are we going to go home after all of this is over? What's going to happen after this? Will things change between everyone. I've noticed that Shampoo hasn't been glomping Ranma, and Ryouga's changed radically. Then there's Ranma. He's gotten better. He even made it so that he can go Nekoken when he wants with that armor of his. Ukyo's been picking up a few recipes and modifying them to go in tandem with her okonomiyaki, and even taught me how to at least make toast and coffee successfully. Mousse has a new trick with sneaking up on people, and even bigger sleeves, if that was even possible. I hope we win the next mission and get to go home.'

Akane turned around and left the observation deck to train.

-/0\-

"So what's this plan of yours doc?" Nabiki asked over a dish of ice cream.

"Well, I want to eliminate Ranma's fear of cats. I don't know much about martial arts, but it seems his greatest technique is triggered by fear. If there was a way to somehow fix it so that he can call it out at any time by any means besides fear, it can become his greatest ally. I was thinking of starting small. Maybe blind-fold him, then have him pet a cat. Of course it will all be controlled at first, but when Ranma isn't leaping out of his skin at the sight of a cat, then we can remove a few limiters, and so on and so forth until Ranma's not afraid anymore. I'm afraid if Nod finds out about this between now and the attack, they may capitalize on this severe weakness."

"So basically you want me to make him pet a cat over and over without him knowing what the animal is?" Nabiki said, finishing her ice cream.

"Yeah, basically. If you can manage it whenever it's possible of course. I don't care when really."

"Ok ok. But this is gonna cost you." Nabiki said, getting up to leave, having finished three ice creams over the course of the meeting.

"How much?" Mort asked, but Nabiki had already left. Mort took a while to ponder over the last sentence, then figured it out. 'Of course it'd be a free meal.' Mort then placed his card on the table to pay for the ice cream and coffee.

-/0\--/0\-

Pretty good time to interrupt and mention that I won't go through all five days of prep. It's basically more maintenance.

-/0\--/0\-

Day of the attack.

Ox transports are being loaded with personnel and equipment. At least twenty are being sent to Sarajevo. An MCV will be deployed from Croatia at the start of the attack alongside a couple Mammoth Tanks, and set to arrive right around when the outpost will be destroyed. However, the commanders won't be taking a normal Ox. They will go in a larger transport specially built to act as a mobile command, something done once before during the second Tiberium War. Nabiki and Wingate are getting themselves situated in the back, while Haverson is up front in the cockpit taking command of the vessel, a second generation _Kodiak_ called the _Tahlia_.

"_Tahlia_ to Tower, we're ready to take off. Give us the green light at any time."

"We confirm ready status _Tahlia_. However, not all of the transports are ready to go. We will broadcast the green light when the time is right. Tower out."

Haverson leaned back in his chair and started twiddling his thumbs. His fleet indicators regularly changed from red to green and the board started to glow with a ready fleet. Soon all of the indicators were green, and the display changed to a countdown that was paused.

"Tower to fleet. Green light to engagement. Take off in 30."

The countdown then started to countdown from 30 seconds as the fleet's engines started spinning up to lift their loads.

"_Tahlia, _LAUNCH!!!"

The _Tahlia_'s engine manifolds tilted downward and directed all of their thrust at the ground. Soon the _Tahlia_ was airborne for the first official time, and was in a steady ascent with the rest of the fleet and en route to Sarajevo.

"_Tahlia_ to fleet, set course for Sarajevo. ETA two hours. _Tahlia_ to tower. ETA to Sarajevo is two hours. We will begin the operation in 2 hours 15 minutes. _Tahlia _out."

Soon the fleet was underway.

Destination: Sarajevo.

-/0\--/0\-

Ok I lied a little bit. A three-parter.

But now everyone's getting filled with anticipation over the final battle with Nod.

In the next chapter, shit's gonna blow up. It's a battle; what do you want, a poem?


	17. Mission 10: Sarajevo Base Assault

Command and Ranma GDI: Sarajevo Part 2

Author Notes:

WEEELLLLCOOMME, TO THE FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL SHOWDOWN!!!!!

IN THE BLUE CORNER, THE VISITING TEAM, THE GLOBAL DEFENSE INITIATIVE!!!! THEIR STAR FIGHTERS ARE ALL HERE AND LINED UP AND READY TO GO

IN THE RED CORNER, WITH THE HOME TEAM ADVANTAGE, IS THE BROTHERHOOD OF NOD!!! THEY LOOK READY TO HOLD OFF ANY AND EVERY ATTACK AGAINST THEM

LET'S GET THINGS STARTED. WAR FIGHT ALL SET. READY, GO!!!!

Yeah, go fig, I figured a G Gundam line was worthy of this spot.

-/0\--/0\-

As the initial attack force of Predators and infantry finish up with the Nod outpost, an MCV and additional reinforcements arrived in the area. The MCV took up a good deployment spot where the Nod ConYard used to be, and deployed into a ConYard. Immediately, construction crews began establishing a base, starting with a Crane, then a pair of power plants. A refinery followed shortly, then a Barracks and another power plant were built. Within 15 minutes, a well built base was up and running including a Tech Lab and an Armory. Soon Mammoth Tanks were being deployed next to Watchtowers with Railgun upgrades to cover the three possible entrances; the one to the north, the northeast, and to the east.

The_Tahlia_ soon landed and disembarked the martial artists and Nabiki, who all made their way to the Command Post. The command ship then lifted off and proceeded to the safety of 50,000 feet above the battlefield.

Everyone then went inside the command post, and recieved their individual mission briefings.

"Okay people, listen carefully. This Nod base isn't like all the rest. Kane is located here, and as such, his defense line is near impregnable. You will have to coordinate with the rest of our forces if you want to get inside. Here's what we know so far: there are three entrances into the canyon, and two entrances into the Nod base. The three canyon entrances are flanked by Nod Obelisks. As we speak, our Firehawks are preparing to clear these defenses out. The two base entrances are also defended by Nod Obelisks, but also by a plethora of other base defenses. But first we need to clear out the scattered SAM Sites on the outer wall. The Juggernauts will handle this task along with you. We will keep the artillery mechs in the base. It's up to you to paint the target area for the gunners. We can't risk moving the mechs out into the open. Once the base defenses are down, we move into the outer perimeter base. There are two targets of opportunity here: the first Ion Cannon Disrupter, and the Science Administrative building. We need to destroy the emitter while capturing the secondary objective. After that, we move to the second base line. Destroy the emitter here, and capture the Tiberium Research Center that's there. After that's done, clear out the rest of the Nod base here and in the first line, then move to the core. Ignore Temple Prime and level the rest of the base that's here. Then all of us will move into Temple Prime via this vehicular access point, and attempt to capture Kane and his weapon of mass destruction, the Liquid Tiberium Bomb. After at least the weapon is captured, establish an uplink with GDI command via the Master Control Terminal located in Temple Prime, and the mission will be a success. Here's the lineup based on canyon entrance."

-/0\-

As Nabiki is giving the operation briefing, the Firehawks were running their own operations.

"Bravo Lead to Tower, the second Obelisk cluster has been eliminated. I repeat: Second canyon entrance clear. Returning to base for rearming now."

"Copy that Bravo Lead. We have you on radar and cleared for approach."

90 seconds later, a comm line is opened to the Nod base, and only one thing was said over it: "BOHICA!!!"

The comm line is closed, and among the jets, the pilots are all screaming "Let's get them FUBAR!!! All Firehawks, TAKE OFF!!!"

All the Firehawks take off, and engage their stratofighter boosters and drop down next to the last pair of Obelisks. 8 bombs later, the entrance is now cleared for passage and the Firehawks return to base.

-/0\-/0\-

Yeah, I found some military acronyms.

BOHICA: Bend over, here it comes again

FUBAR: fucked up beyond all recognition

-/0\--/0\-

Back in the command center, Nabiki is confirming all the group assignments.

"Ok, Ranma and Akane, along with a contingent of Mammoth Tanks and APC's with Zone Troopers and an Engineer will go in through the north entrance. Cologne, Shampoo, and Mousse along with a contingent of Mammoths and a Juggernaut battlegroup will take the middle entrance and shell the base defenses. Ukyo and Ryouga along with a third contingent of Mammoth Tanks, and APC's with Zone Troopers and an engineer will take the eastern side of the base.

-/0\-

Elsewhere in the base, 30 Mammoth Tanks are being prepared for deployment. Alongside them are 5 Juggernauts--the 105th Irish Artillery--and 60 APC's along with Zone Troopers.

"Drivers, when we tell you to leave, how will you do it?" The staff sergeant said.

"NOT BOLO!!!" yelled the drivers.

"Well then with that, CUT-A-CHOGY!!!"

"HOOAH!!!" All the drivers mounted their vehicles. The Mammoth umbilicals were released, and were running under their own power. Railgun ammo was loaded, and missile packs locked into place. APC engines could be heard a mile away as they all started up. The Zone troopers loaded up, and their ammo secure. The Juggernaut's ran through their startup procedure. First was the vital systems check, then the priming sequences for the guns. All three barrels ran through diagnostics cycles, test-firing with a blank charge to make sure the recoil dampers were calibrated and that the loading mechanism was feeding properly. The legs ran through diagnostics as well, and soon the Juggernauts lifted up off the ground and were underway. 10 Mammoth's to the north, 10 to the northeast, and the last 10 to the east. Going with each group were 20 APC's. The north and east groups would get an engineer, and the NE group would get the 105th.

-/0\--/0\-

Bolo - to perform below the minimum

Cut-a-chogy: Get out of here

Hooah: acknowledgement; means anything but no

-/0\--/0\-

The HazMat teams are expecting a special package to arrive from Washington. 30 seconds had passed, and the whine of an Ox's engines are heard. Sure enough, an Ox begins it's landing cycle. Slung underneath the Ox is a container that easily surpasses the Predator in size.

"Man, we were called out for a box?" One of the techs said.

"Hey man, stow the BS and quit your bellyaching. All I heard is that this is the load for a Juggernaut shell that we intend on placing on Kane's front doorstep. I heard the material inside is so caustic, so vile, it can kill just by inhaling it." Said another tech.

"So if this stuff is so dangerous, why load it up as a weapon?"

"Because that's all this stuff is good for." Said a voice behind the two technicians. They both turn around to see Nabiki is standing behind her. "This stuff is actually soup gone wrong. It takes a person with a titanium stomach to survive this, and I doubt Kane has that going for him. Now since you people can't conduct yourselves in an appropriate manner, go get me a can of squelch for my radio."

"Yes ma'am." The two technicians run off after a non-existant item.

The container touches down on the ground, and the Ox leaves the area. Nabiki begins the unloading sequence, since she knows how to handle Akane's cooking. Red warning lights begin flashing, and klaxons are heard as the hatch opens up. Inside is a keypad, which Nabiki uses to enter a 10-digit security code. Next was a voiceprint analyzer, which Nabiki clearly stated her name and authorization code. Green lights then flashed, and a cylinder pops out of the container, revealing a canister. Nabiki grabs it and takes it to the War Factory for conversion into a usable munition for the Juggernauts.

-/0\-

Ranma and Akane are nearing the path down into the crater that they are supposed to take. They decide to take a break and the entire tank column halts. Akane gets down on her stomach and pulls out a pair of binoculars. This pair of binoculars has a laser designator built into it, designed to place a GPS targeting signal on a target for Juggernaut bombardment. She centers the laser sight on the target, and thumbs a switch on the top.

-/0\-

Cologne orders her group to stop and take a break. All of a sudden, the Juggernauts point their guns in the air, and fire off 15 shells at a distant target. All 15 shells impact on one of the Obelisks impeding the progress of group 1, leveling it to the ground. All pieces reload their guns, then recieve another attack signal. They fire off 15 more shells, taking out the other Obelisk.

They then point to the south and reload their guns again.

-/0\-

Ryouga decides to let go of Ukyo's hand, and navigate down onto his stomach. Ukyo in the meantime is painting the Obelisks for destruction. She activates the laser designator on the first Obelisk, and within 5 seconds, 5 shells impact, then another 5, and then the final 5, and the Obelisk is no more. She trains the laser on the other Obelisk, and soon it's no more as well.

"MAMMOTH TANKS, ADVANCE ON THE BASE; LEVEL THE DISRUPTION EMITTER FIRST."

Soon, not only is Ukyo's group of Mammoth's on the move, but Ranma's as well. In a matter of moments, the air is choking on the sight of disaster.

-/0\--/0\-

The following segment is one of my own machination.

Gotta do SOMETHING with Akane's cooking...

It's non-canon for CnC in other words.

-/0\--/0\-

Back at base however, a 6th Juggernaut is being deployed. This mech however, features one long barrel instead of the traditional three barrels. Capable of placing a round 5 klicks away without a spotter, it is the most powerful Juggernaut in existence right now. If this deployment is successful, GDI may consider making a second one in the traditional armor scheme of triple 200mm cannons.

This Juggernaut, however, only has one shell in its arsenal. After it's fired, plans are made to convert the Juggernaut into a long range tri-barrel design for R&D purposes.

The command center is a blur of activity as they are establishing uplinks with the firing control software on the Juggernaut, and the GPS satellites in orbit so that the shot is placed right on the target area: Kane's front window.

The Juggernaut moves into a firing position, and then drops the leg braces. A special rig moves into position and deploys behind it, spreading out an anchor that adds extra recoil dampening to the artillery piece. The loading mechanism pulls back, and loads in the cartridge containing the unknown chemical. The barrel pulls forward, closing the breach. Minute adjustments are made to the firing angle, as the target is lined up. Wind speed, elevation, and declination of the Earth's axis are all taken into consideration.

Then, the gun fires. Massive recoil is generated and dampened, and the shell is sent hurtling toward Temple Prime.

It soon impacts with the force of a mini nuclear bomb, mushroom cloud included.

"Good shot Wingate." Said Nabiki.

-/0\-

In Kane's personal study, he was busy packing his most personal possessions, namely his statues of himself, when an explosion breaks through one of his walls, and a goopy substance is splashed all over the walls. He walks over, smells chicken noodle, takes a small amount on his finger, and licks it.

Immediately he convulses, then gathers his composure, and thanks to his titanium stomach, lives through the ordeal. He gets on the intercom. "Somebody shoot the chef; he's trying to kill me."

"Yes my lord."

-/0\-

Meanwhile, the Juggernauts completed taking out the AA Turrets on the wall. Nod soldiers start swarming the area, as well as Venoms. The APC's take out the aircraft relatively easily. Cologne in the meantime offers the unsuspecting soldiers a chance to surrender.

"Give up. You can't win."

"Oh yeah? MAKE US!!!" shouted the lead Nod soldier.

Cologne sighs, and pokes the mountain side. Seconds later, it crumbles into fist-sized rocks that roll down the opposite side. A whimper is heard from the crowd clad in red and black, and they drop their weapons and throw their hands in the air.

"Good boys."

-/0\-

The 20 assault Mammoths in the meantime, have secured 33 of the base. They were also able to capture two Avatar's with air lifted Engineers by blowing out the legs and interfacing with the mech's controls. They round the corner, and meet very little resistance, the Mammoths split back up into two groups and proceed around to the two entrances to the rear of the base.

"Guys, I've picked up the signature of a Temple of Nod. There's a nuclear missile 4 minutes from firing. Take out the Temple ASAP." Nabiki said over the radio.

"High speed low drag command." replied one of the tank commanders.

The first Mammoth in the column closest to the Temple rounds the corner. Shortly thereafter, 3 blood red laser beams lance the Mammoth, hitting the ammo storage and blowing up the vehicle in a matter of seconds.

"Shit, Mammoth down. They have Obelisks guarding the Temple access to the north, and possible the eastern one as well. We need air support ASAP command."

"Copy that, Firehawks en route."

-/0\-

The airfield speakers came to life as the orders came in. "BALLS TO THE WALLS PEOPLE, WE HAVE TARGETS THAT NEED TAKING OUT."

Soon, 12 Firehawks were in the air, and engaging their Stratofighter Booster engines and moving to engage the targets.

Five minutes later, the Mammoths were once again taking out the base. Soon the last Disruption emitter came offline in a fiery explosion, as well as the Construction Yard and the rest of the base, EXCEPT Temple Prime.

"Okay people, it's go time. Cologne, Shampoo and Mousse should start making their way down to the entrance of Temple Prime. The rest of you should wait for them to arrive. This assault will take all of you. Any less would result in failure. This is Temple Prime after all; it's going to be heavily defended inside as well. Also, set up a ground return transciever. We can't get a signal inside the Temple too well, and we wanna be able to get in touch with you. Command out." Nabiki shut off the comm line, and added, "God speed."

-/0\--/0\-

Once again, we break away from canon. In the game, the Ion Cannon usage is authorized, and is shot at Temple Prime, turning the region from a yellow zone into a red zone, and acting like a giant beacon calling the Scrin to Earth, where you are fighting them for the last two acts of the game. HOWEVER, the plan was to AVOID all of that, and bring about the end of the war, which, hopefully, brings about Ranma and company returning to their own time.

So the next chapter is the assault on Temple Prime itself. Two to go people, two to go.

On another note, due to recent inspiration, another project will be started. Like CnR, it's something that's never been done before. Like CnR, it takes place in the future. Like CnR, there's mecha. Unlike CnR, it takes place in space. A future in which humanity has traveled the stars; a future where all of space is littered with debris from countless engagements with hostile Terran factions, and two different alien races. Please stop me if I'm about to spoil the surprise. Oh screw it. Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice, and the Akatsuki mobile suits of Gundam Seed Destiny will all come into the GTVA of Freespace 2. Together they will face countless opponents, and even go up against one of the most powerful Shivan vessels in existance. Also, see what becomes of them when they get a few new modifications to make them a little more versatile in the GTVA-NTF-Shivan war.


	18. Mission 10: Temple Prime

Command and Ranma GDI: Temple Prime

Author Notes:

Second to last chapter. Also, CnR Nod will take a back burner position to project slot 3. Project Slot 2 will be Gundam Freespace, where the Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice, and Akatsuki, along with Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, and Mwu La Flaga will be thrust into Freespace 2 with the GTVA, fighting the Neo Terran Front, the Hammer of Light, and the Shivans, rebels, alien terrorists, and alien terrors respectively. It's gonna be an explosive ride as they run through a tour of duty culminating in the grand finale of a supernova. If you've played Freespace 2, you know what I mean. If you haven't, then this next project will be a spoiler much in the same manner as CnR. It follows the mission structure almost to the letter.

Now that that's out of the way, back on track. I chose to place all 7 martial artists inside Temple Prime, because it's a lot more cool to see them running through the red hued hallways of Temple Prime, blowing up crap, and scoring a major victory for the good guys. Besides, it's funny to see Ryouga getting lost, and funnier to have him get lost with 1,000+ soldiers in the same building...don't go into the mess hall there Ryo...

Don't say I didn't warn him.

-/0\--/0\-

The martial artists filed down the ramp leading into the parking complex of Temple Prime. The heat sensors registered a massive heat signature around the corner, and shortly thereafter, a column of flame is seen shooting across the intersection, serving as a warning shot. Ukyo decides to use a flour grenade to serve as a smoke screen. "Everyone, hold hands, I'm going to use a smokescreen to get us by that Flame Tank, and we don't wanna get lost, do we Ryouga?"

Ryouga is flustered as the last comment is directed at him, and he blushes then turns away, only to have his hand grabbed by Ukyo. "If you look away, then you're gonna get hopelessly lost. Come on." Ukyo says as she triggers the grenade and tosses it around the corner. A second later a bang is heard, and a large white cloud is seen. Everyone runs through it right past the Flame Tank, which Cologne thoughtfully pokes before continuing further into the complex. As the smoke clears, the tank is nothing but a smoldering pile of scrap metal.

As the group continues on, they are shocked by the lack of resistance. The comm line then crackles to life as the ground return transiever is forwarding a signal to the group. "Guys, listen up, the Ion Cannon is pointed at Temple Prime. If you fail, we will have no choice but to fire it. So do me a favor: don't fail." Nabiki says, shortly before the comm line is closed.

The group continues through the hallway, to come out in a massive command center, reaching from below the ground to the top of Temple Prime. Along the sides are 17 floors of labs and such. At the very top is Kane's office. Below the command center are the living quarters. The group is amazed at the size and detail of the the structure, but still troubled about the sudden lack of interest in the intruders. Only a few scientists remain in the structure and they don't look like they wanna shoot anybody.

"Command, we have a slight problem. Temple Prime was abandoned. There's no soldiers, and possibly no Kane even. We're going to find the bomb and disable it now."

Ranma picks up the nearest scientist by the front of his shirt. "Where's the Liquid Tiberium Bomb?"

"I uh...I don't know. I wasn't in charge of Project Green Signal. I swear. Although I have heard rumors about something like that 5 floors down. You might wanna check there."

"Good. Now where is everybody?"

"Kane and is devoted commanders jumped ship so to speak. Oh yeah." The scientist then pops a capsule into his mouth. 30 seconds later he's dead.

Ranma drops the scientist unceremoniously onto the floor, then turns to the group. "Let's go."

Everyone then heads to the stairs leading down and head down a floor to explore below the command center when they are met with some of the fiercest resistance. "Crap, didn't expect this heavy of a guard. Ukyo, sorry, but you aren't going to be much help here. You'd eventually run out of those flour grenades. You should go secure the command center and all of those labs and such."

Ukyo agrees then heads back up the stairs. In the meantime, bullets are still flying down the hallway, impeding progress. Ranma swears he hears new clips being slammed into their recievers, but with the firepower holding, he thinks that they are staggering their fire to maintain a constant stream of bullets. "Akane, can you clear them out?"

"Sure. Akane carefully peaks her launcher around the corner, then launchs a grenade into the group. A satisfactory scream follows the explosion, and the bullets stop flying. Everyone then enters the hallway and looks around.

Ryouga however, went the wrong way, and is now lost.

He continues to wander the hallways looking for everyone when he comes to a door. 'Hm, I wonder if they're in here...' thought Ryouga as he approached the door. It hisses open and Ryouga figures he's in a cafeteria of some sort, because all of the tables are filled with Nod troops chowing down.

"Hey, do any of you know if some martial artists like me passed through the area?" Ryouga asks.

All the Nod troops raise their guns and level them on Ryouga's face. "Was it something I said?"

He quickly retreats with an entire Nod contingent on his heels.

-/0\-

Ranma and Akane meanwhile split off the rest of the group to find Ryouga, who got himself lost yet again. Knowing that he could be causing all sorts of trouble for him, they continue looking for him down random hallways, when they hear screaming coming right at them. Soon a blur passes by them with a "Hi, bye"

Ranma and Akane turn back to see what the blur was running from, then they too start running as the Nod contingent is still chasing Ryouga. Ranma prepares a Mouko Takabisha, and Ryouga starts preparing the Shi Shi Hokoudan. They both stop, Akane takes cover behind them, and they both launch their attacks. The rear guard of the contingent is all that's left conscious. They pull their fallen brethren to safety, and decide not to give further pursuit of the group.

Ranma in the meantime, whacks Ryouga across the head.

"Ow, what'd you do that for?"

"I thought it'd be painfully obvious. You got lost, and got yourself into trouble YET AGAIN!!!"

The three then decide to hook back up with the Amazonians that are wandering the halls trying to find a way to the lower levels.

-/0\-

Ukyo however, isn't having as much trouble. She's secured all of the scientists in Kane's study with her. She's cleaned up the toxic sludge that is Akane's cooking, and even disposed of the dead chef that was lying all over the floor. She also discovers that the MCT is on Kane's desk, and awaits for the bomb to be defused or deactivated or whatever needs to happen with it. She does however manage to access the Temple Prime mainframe and gains information on this Project Green Signal. Ukyo then opens a comm line to Nabiki at Command.

"Nabiki, I found some information on the Liquid Tiberium Bomb that Nod has. Apparently it's part of a Project Green Signal that Nod was putting into its final stages. Apparently it has something to do with an artifact called the Tacitus, and the information stored on it. It constantly refers to something called the Scrin, and that Green Signal was an attempt to call them to Earth or something. Supposedly, it was Nod's plan in provoking us to fire the Ion Cannon at Temple Prime and setting off the bomb rather violently. It also relates to Nod's goal of ascension or something along those lines. If we had fired the Ion Cannon, we'd all be dead from either the tiberium, or the blast, or both."

"Good job securing the mainframe's data." Nabiki said. Haverson cut in on the conversation from the _Tahlia_. "It IS a good thing we didn't fire the Ion Cannon, otherwise we would have been responsible for not only bringing a third faction into the war, but also turning most of Eastern Europe into a Red Zone, AS WELL AS being held responsible for hundreds of thousands of innocent lives lost. Firing the Ion Cannon isn't worth that much. Have we secured the device?"

Ranma is on the line now. "No, we're still trying to reach it. Apparently the Temple isn't as empty as we thought. Kane thoughtfully jumped ship with his best commanders, and left the troops to guard the device, and the scientists to guard the device's secrets. They have some kind of poison capsule on them to commit suicide if captured."

Ukyo responds to this, the shock noticeable in her voice. "Wait, what was that?"

"Yeah, you saw that one scientist who mentioned Green Signal popped a capsule then died. Maybe the others have them too."

"Oh snap." Ukyo runs down to where she was keeping the scientists, only to find out that they're' all dead. "We got a problem. All the scientists are dead."

"Oh goody. That means the only information left on Nod projects is in the mainframe. And if there's scientists in where the mainframe is, you can bet that they will sabotage the databanks. I'm sending details for an uplink down to you. We need to scavenge as much data as possible before the info is lost."

"Copy that. Ukyo out." She rushes back up to Kane's office, and begins the uplink procedure. A transfer bar is showing on screen, and progresses as the data is transferred bit by bit. Another bar then appears on screen, showing a data deletion process. 'Oh no, they know what I'm doing and are wiping the data. Come on, hurry up and transfer.' 2 minutes later, all the data is finished transferring to a secured now-isolated GDI server, at the same time that all the data was deleted.

"No files" flashes on the screen. It's soon replaced by "Self destruct initiated" 'Crap'

Ukyo opens a GDI common channel and shouts "CLEAR AWAY FROM TEMPLE PRIME. THEY'VE ACTIVATED A SELF DESTRUCT" She leaves the office, and considering the fastest way down to the main level is jumping, she hops the rail, and using the lower rails as breaks, hops down level by level to the main floor and starts making her way out.

-/0\-

Ranma and everyone else gets the message, and begins making their way out back through the blood stained hallways

-/0\-

Haverson moves in to pick up Nabiki and Wingate, and then heads to Temple Prime's main entrance to retrieve everyone else. Meanwhile, all the Ox's are evacuating base personnel and all the soldiers and vehicle crews. Soon the sky is filled with the transports heading back to European Command in Britain.

-/0\-

The _Tahlia_ lands outside the Nod parking garage as the martial artists file out. Explosions are seen coming from Temple Prime. One of the commanders notices something odd. "Sir, a Nod Sabatour captured our Ion Cannon Uplink. The self-destruct sequence in Temple Prime was just aborted. The Ion Cannon is 30 seconds from firing. If we're leaving, we need to leave NOW."

"Very well. Helm, take off NOW."

All the martial artists make it aboard just as the take-off thrusters are firing. The ship's nose tilts up, and retro rockets fire to take them away from the soon-to-be tiberium crater.

"5...4...3...2...1...Temple Prime on screen now."

On the screen is Temple Prime, as 8 lances of energy pierce the ground surrounding it, spiraling inwards as the Ion Cannon is priming the main discharge. The lances dissappear, leaving behind a cloud of ionized gas. Then a final shot ignites the ionized gas, vaporizing Temple Prime and igniting the Liquid Tiberium. Soon the white explosion is replaced by a green mushroom cloud and Tiberium is spread everywhere.

"Sir, tiberium scales are off the charts. We've failed."

"No we haven't, we got all the information from the Nod mainframe. It also seems like they were expecting us to do what we did. We gave Nod too much credit if we thought they'd roll over and die. This is how they fight. Guerilla tactics; they do hit and run. They hit us with the self-destruct, and we ran. And they won this battle. But a battle isn't a war. A battle is just a small part of the war. And we still won that war. Let's return home. Director Boyle needs the details so that he can address the public."

With that, the _Tahlia_ sets a course for GDI High Command in Virginia.

-/0\--/0\-

Almost done. This is how Nod operates: sneaky. I think I portrayed them accurately. Kane left a specific set of instructions, which were to have the Ion Cannon firing on Temple Prime either under GDI's control, or under Nod's. Either way, the bomb was to detonate like that. Nabiki failed to calculate that into her planning, and it nearly cost her life as well as the lives of thousands of GDI personnel alone operating in the area.

Next is the finale, including the return, and an awesome twist, which is why back in the first chapter, I changed the origin year from 1997 to 1995...think REAL hard as to why I did that, and wait for the last chapter of Command and Ranma GDI to be released.


	19. Epilogue

Command and Ranma Epilogue

Author Notes:

Coming up next is a message from Director Boyle. BUT FIRST, a word from our sponsors.

Here at the Akheton Corporation, we make the finest in weapon systems. From the Subsystem Destroyer Gun to the Type 5 Anti-Capital Ship Beam Artillery, we can service all of your assaulting needs. Akheton.

And now, Director Boyle...

-/0\--/0\-

A man is standing at a podium. Seated behind him are the three commanders who participated in the assault on Sarajevo; Commander Haverson, Lieutenant Commander Wingate, and Lieutenant Commander Nabiki. The man at the podium is the Director of GDI, Redmond Boyle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what happened at Sarajevo was indeed a failure on our part to anticipate Nod's movements and actions to the letter. As much as it pains me to say this, Kane is indeed a mastermind of terror. He anticipated that we would do whatever it took to NOT fire the Ion Cannon, but instead take over Temple Prime. He and his inner circle of commanders fled the Temple, leaving behind specific instructions for the rest of the base personnel. They rigged the self-destruct after a late purge of the computer mainframe, which we managed to steal the data from. As a result of the data jacking, we know what Nod's plans are. As a result of the self-destruct sequence, we evacuated the area, only to have an Ion Cannon taken over and fired on Temple Prime. Now much of Eastern Europe is a Red Zone due to this security blunder. But on the bright side, the war with Nod is over. Their stronghold, Temple Prime, is no more. We know everything about Nod's operations, and it's thanks to these three fine commanders and their crack commando team that the war has seen this swift conclusion. Nod's going to be stupid to attack us now that their forces are segmented once more. As we speak, GDI forces are hunting down the last of the Nod bases and taking them out. Soon Nod will be no more, and we can focus on removing the Tiberium menace from our world. Please no questions; thank you."

Boyle then steps down, and leaves the room with the three commanders in tow.

Later that day, everyone parties with a GDI all-you-can-eat buffet, normally designed to feed 500 troops and still have food left over. However, with 6 bottomless pits in attendance, that food supply shrinks to about 100 people fed. However, Ranma and everyone else forces themselves to moderate how much they eat, since they didn't work up THAT much of an appetite. Once the meal is complete, every combatant decides to run maintenance on their armor and equipment, then call it a night.

-/0\-

Genma and Soun are shocked to find that everyone else is now in their beds. Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane, and Ranma have returned from wherever they went. Likewise, Shampoo, Cologne, Mousse, Ukyo, and Ryouga returned to their points of origin. However, they find out that their armor, which was essentially saturated with their fighting spirit, came with them. Finding no need for it in the near future, they decide to hide them in the closet, and life returns to normal.

Until...

-/0\-

Three months later, everyone was watching TV, when an important news update interrupts the programming. They turn up the volume and listen intently.

"We are coming to you live from the Tiber River, where late last night a meteorite fell here. As you can see, the meteorite is green, and around it, green crystals are sprouting from the ground, possibly fragments of the meteorite. However, for some strange reason, we can't approach due to radiation emanating from the area. Dr. Mobius, a renowned chemist, has taken some of the substance back to his lab for further study."

Everyone is shocked as the material described sounds shockingly like Tiberium.

"Here we go again, time to pull out our combat armor..."

-/0\--/0\-

Shocking yes...

Short, yes.

The end, definently. The epilogue is designed to be short, but sweet. And the little tidbit at the end was the reason why I changed 1997 to 1995 back in the first chapter. 1995 is when tiberium first appeared on Earth, at the Tiber River in fact.

Next time on...wait a minute, there IS no next chapter. Well if you wanna stay tuned, be my guest. Re-read the story, or wait for Gundam Freespace's first chapter to be released. Your choice.


End file.
